Bittersweet Revenge
by Jessi84
Summary: Horatio has a dark secret the team doesn't know of. When a brutal murderer chooses Miami's young women for his pleasures, the team gets sucked in into a world they never knew of. Will they find out about Horatio's long kept  secret? This is AU.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Here is my new CSI Miami fic, which is a little different from what I normally write. I was inspired for this already a couple of years ago thanks to a yahoo group, but I never had an idea what to make out of it. It took me almost two years to complete it and actually I'm quite proud of it. **

**There will be talk about supernatural things, so if you don't like that, you've benn warned.**

**Of course, none of the CSI: Miami characters belong to me, everyone else does though.**

**Have fun and please let me know what you think. **

**Prologue**

A dark figure was standing on one of the many rooftops above the lively city of New York. It was already past midnight, the sun had already set hours ago and now there was only the cold light of the moon illuminating what was around the figure. Not that light was needed anyway. No, seeing was as easy in the darkness as in the light and in fact it was even sharper now.

Casually, the man made a step towards the edge of the roof and looked down at the busy streets of the city that never sleeps. Oh and how true was this? Living here for so many years had taught him quite effectively that there was always something going on in this city. It didn't matter what time it was, someone was always awake.

And yet the city bored him. It was too easy here. It was too easy to meet people. It was too easy to lure them with false promises. It was too easy to play hide and seek with the so called good ones. There was no opponent for him any longer. There had been one many years ago, but now?

"Fools," he mumbled and wrapped his arms around his dark coat, which was flapping in the wind. He was sick of the cold weather here; the cold winters and hot summers. He wanted to see something else. The yuppies he met annoyed him and this was never a good sign.

He needed a change of scenery. Something warmer, yes. Something more open. Something new and lively. Something where he could meet different people than here. But where would that be? Los Angeles? Let alone the name made him chuckle.

"Angels, huh? I wonder if they ever met a real one," he smirked and shook his dark haired head. "There are too many celebrities being watched by millions of people, no thanks," he grumbled and went through all the warm cities that came into his mind. It was really a shame that he had already visited most of the 50 states and that this fact didn't make it any easier.

"Mhm, a state with good looking women, warm weather, nice beaches, good clubs, young audience," he listed his wishes and furrowed his brows while doing so. Of course he had kept his ears open for the past few weeks, and more than once had fallen the name "Miami" as the new hot spot where everything goes and in fact that was just what he needed – a nice vacation on the beach with lots of fun.

"Miami it is then," he grinned evilly and rubbed his hands. Maybe he would meet the one or other acquaintance there, now this could be highly interesting. He carefully looked around, trying to see if someone was watching him, not that it actually mattered, and then took the last step over the roof's edge.

Oh yes, Miami would give him great pleasure.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Sleep had been a precious thing in the last few days, so every member of the Miami Dade Crime Lab did their best to get as much of it as possible. A continuous heat wave had the whole city in its relentless grip and people were practically going mad. Discussions developed into heated arguments; heated arguments developed into fights; fights developed into jobs for the local CSIs'.

With a grunt, Horatio turned around in his bed and fumbled for his chirping cell. He didn't even bother to open his eyes, not that he was capable of doing so anyway, and just pressed randomly on a button in hope to hit the right one. But then again, he wouldn't mind if it was the wrong one, because this meant a few more minutes of rest.

"Horatio?" he grumbled into the phone, which he pressed against his left ear.

"H, it's Frank. Sorry to wake you up so early, but we've got a case," the dark Texan voice told him and made him realize that this meant the end of his wonderful sleep.

"What time is it Frank?" Horatio asked and tried to free himself out of his tangled bed sheets.

"Quarter past six," the Texan answered and chuckled dryly when he heard a muted noise that sounded like a curse. "You always tell me you're an early riser, so quarter past six can't be too early for you," he teased the Lieutenant and enjoyed himself immensely.

"Easy for you to say, you were on vacation for the last two weeks," Horatio growled and finally freed himself. "Where's the scene?"

"South Beach, so you better hurry up before all the vultures get there and our tourists will have a very special memory of their holiday," Frank replied and while doing so, observed the scene in front of him. "Or better make it _more_ vultures than are already here," he said annoyed and instructed one of his officers to expand the crime scene area.

"I'll be there in 30," Horatio answered and quit the call. He walked straight into the bathroom and stepped under his cold shower which hopefully wake him up a bit more. Crime Scenes on the beach were always very tricky, because evidences could be taken away by almost everyone, not to forget the sea. Searching for traces was a bitch and he already knew that Speed wouldn't be amused by the combination of getting up so early and spending the day at the beach. Eric would complain of why he can't dive in the ocean and Calleigh would try to get a nice taint. Hopefully everyone remembered to put on some sun cream, or they would look like lobsters in a heart beat.

True to his words, Horatio arrived at the Crime Scene about 30 minutes later and stepped out of his Hummer with a large cup of coffee from his favorite brand in his hand. Frank had been right, he was an early riser normally and nights with only four or five hours of sleep didn't bother him at all, but one double shift after the other did also tire out the great Horatio Caine.

"What have we got, Frank?" he asked in his typical manner, when the detective approached him.

"One victim, female. Name is Tamara Princeton. Seems like she'd been on vacation here, her drivers license was made out in Chicago."

"Any witnesses or preferably culprits?" Horatio asked while they made their way to the yellow barrier tape.

"Nope, this guy there," he pointed to a young man with a dog, "found her whilst he was taking his dog for a walk. He literally stumbled over her, got the shock of his life and called us."

Horatio just nodded and scribbled his name onto the protocol sheet. "Well let's see what Alexx can tell us."

"I hope you didn't have breakfast yet, H. It looks nasty. One of my guys puked out his guts when he saw her."

"That bad, huh?" Horatio raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but notice the distinctive smell of blood in the air.

"Most definitely, who ever the perp is, it's an animal."

"An animal we're going to catch, Frank."

Their paths parted and while Frank walked to the officer who was busy talking with the man who found the victim, Horatio made his way to their favorite M.E.

"Alexx, what can you tell me about our victim?" he asked and crouched down next to her.

"Horatio, this is the most gruesome thing I've seen in my life," Alexx greeted him and it was plain to see that the normally cheerful woman was deeply disturbed by what she'd seen.

"I know what you mean, Alexx. Are you okay? Do you need a minute or so?" Horatio asked gently and let his eyes roam over the, what must once have been a beautiful young woman.

"No it's okay, I can manage it," she stubbornly shook her head and reached for the thermometer to find out the liver temperature. "You've been far too young to lie here baby," she stroked over the victims blonde hair after she'd inserted the instrument.

"Frank said she's from Chicago, probably just wanted to spend some days on the beach," Horatio commented. "COD?"

"The cause of death is pretty obvious, Horatio. This animal has slid her throat from the left to right, so deeply that he not only hit the Aorta but also the Trachea."

"There must have been a lot of rage in this," Horatio said. "Have you found any defensive wounds?"

"Believe it or not, I didn't find any," Alexx looked at him.

"Weird," Horatio furrowed his brows. "Normally when someone is attacking you with a knife, you'll do your best to defend yourself," he explained. "And she must have been alive, when he did that to her," he continued and pointed to the blood splatters around the body. "One…two…three and four…her heart must have beaten four times after he had done this to her," he pointed to the different splatters and shook his head.

"All I know is that this guy is a freak and dangerous." She glanced at her thermometer and counted the hours. "Time of death must have been between one or two this morning. She's practically still warm."

"Good, this probably gives us a chance to find enough evidence to work with," Horatio nodded and held up a hand towards his team, before they could enter the crime scene. "I better tell them first what's waiting for them," he told Alexx who'd been looking at him questioningly.

"Well you don't look that good either," Alexx pointed out.

"Lack of sleep and not enough to eat," he barely shrugged and stood up.

"Horatio Caine," Alexx used her motherly warning tone, he knew all too well. "You need to listen to your body and get some rest, furthermore you know as well as I do that you need to eat."

Horatio was glad that he was wearing his sunglasses so she couldn't see him roll his eyes. "I know, Alexx," he sighed.

"And don't you roll your eyes at me," she glared at him. "If you don't have anything to eat at home, you know that you can always come to me."

"I appreciate that, but that won't be necessary," he shook his head and without waiting for a reply, he made his way to his team. "Good morning Cal, gentlemen," he greeted them and looked over his shoulder towards the victim. "It's nasty," he came straight to the point. "The body is still warm so we have a good chance to find something. Speed you and Calleigh will comb the sand for anything which might belong to our victim or the perp. Eric, you will take photos from the victim and the crime scene."

"You got it, H," Eric nodded and quickly made his way to Alexx.

"Do we know if this is the original crime scene?" Speed asked and pulled a face when he saw the numerous number of foot prints here. They would never get a match, thanks to the sand.

"It definitely is where he killed her, yes," Horatio nodded. "There are blood splatters everywhere and the sand is sucked in blood."

"Do we already know the weapon he used?" Calleigh chimed in and looked at H expectantly.

"Something sharp, probably a razor blade, a scalpel…I don't know. We'll have to wait for the autopsy to know for certain."

Speed and Calleigh nodded in unison and made their way to the actual crime scene.

"Now this is going to be a wonderful day," Speed grumbled and crouched down to open his case.

"You're just mad because it's early in the morning and we're on the beach," Calleigh smiled and tied her hair into a bun.

"Well yeah and I have every right to be mad," Speed snorted. "That's definitely a reason why I hate going to the beach," he pulled a face and started to 'comb' the sand.

"Maybe Horatio will give you something from his coffee," Calleigh teased him and followed his example.

"Cal, please believe me when I say that not even 2 liters of coffee could get me awake at this time of day," Speed replied and rolled his eyes when he found a condom in the sand. "Oh… Jackpot."

Curiously Calleigh looked up from her task and grinned at her colleague. "Maybe it's from the prep, we can at least give it a shot."

"Well at least someone already had a shot," Speed commented on the used condom and bit back a remark when he heard Calleigh laughing. "You", he pointed his finger at her, "are much too cheerful for this time of day."

"Sue me," she bantered back and started with her work again.

Speed just shook his head and smiled at her. Not even getting up at six in the morning could make Calleigh Duquesne grumpy. She was definitely not from this world. "Maybe I should sue our Lieutenant, since he's the reason for your cheerfulness," he teased her.

For a second, Calleigh stopped dead in her tracks, and then continued her task, like nothing had happened. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she claimed.

"Uh huh, sure you don't," Speed snickered and put the condom into one of the brown envelopes.

"That's not funny, Tim," Calleigh growled slightly and quickly looked around to make sure that no one was listening to them.

"Oh yeah it is," Speed countered and put on a satisfied grin. He didn't do it often, but once in a while he needed to tease Calleigh a bit. They were close friends, so they trusted each other and he would never betray Calleigh's confidence in him.

"I'll never go out with you again and drink more shots than I should," Calleigh sighed, but couldn't hide a small smile. It was highly unfair that Speed had Irish blood in his veins and could tolerate much more alcohol than she did. The fact that she became quite talkative when she was tipsy had lead into the fact that she had told him about her little crush on their Lieutenant and therefore given him something to tease her with.

Not that she thought for a second that he would tell anyone else, since he was discreet, but still he was able to tease her now. On the other hand though, it was good to know that he didn't care about who she had a crush on and didn't hold it against her. Funny what a last minute 'date' between two friends could bring out.

"That's fine with me, we had agreed for strip poker anyway," Speed joked and laughed lightly when he saw her shocked face. "I'm only joking, Cal. No strip poker, no shots…no nothing. Just know that my door is always open for you, as long as it's not in the middle of the night or early in the morning."

"I'll remember that," she nodded. "But let's concentrate on the case now, or our Lieutenant won't be amused, because you were gossiping about my love life," she drawled and like most of the time, had the last word.

_Tbc?_


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews. Sorry for not replying properly to them, but somehow won't let me. But be assured that I enjoyed reading them. **

**Chapter 2**

It was six days later when Horatio entered the Trace Lab, where Speed was busy analyzing not only the traces they'd found on the beach, but also the traces of the new case that occurred yesterday. They had once again found a young, blond woman on the beach; with her throat slid deeply. Only this time there hadn't been any blood around the body.

"Speed, please tell me you've got good news," he let the door shut behind him and walked to the desk.

Speed just sighed and looked up from the microscope. "I must be jinxed," he said and sat down on a roll stool behind him. "We literally vacuumed the area around the bodies and yet we found nothing that leads us into the right direction. It's like this guy doesn't even exist," he ran his hand trough his unruly hair and yawned.

Horatio knew that these two cases were taking a toll on his team, but for now everything that mattered was catching this animal, before he could murder again. "Well the bodies tell us otherwise, he does exist."

"I know, I know, H. But I still doubt that it was the original crime scene where we found the second victim. I mean, there was barely enough blood around her for a lighter cut in the finger or something, so he must have killed her somewhere else. And until we haven't found this 'somewhere else' we're pretty much stuck."

"Yeah," Horatio nodded and was interrupted by Alexx, who stick her head in at the door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys, but I need to talk to you, Horatio," she said and held up a case file.

"I'll be there in a moment, Alexx. Why don't you wait for me in my office?" Horatio nodded and turned his attention to Speed again. "If you find something, page me."

"Will do, H. Do you have any idea what Alexx has found out?"

"Not yet," Horatio replied and pushed the door open, "but let's hope that it will help us to stop this animal, or we will have the next victim within the next days."

"I'll cross my fingers and toes," Speed commented and grabbed the results from the printer. He could only imagine the pressure that must be weighing on Horatio's shoulders, because the chief, the mayor and the press wanted to hear some good news and since they couldn't provide them any, his boss was more or less in everyone's focus. Once again he was happy that he was only the second in command of the lab, because he knew for sure, that he could refrain from living with this pressure.

Upstairs in the office, Alexx was waiting impatiently for Horatio. She had found something out, that had literally made her blood run cold and she had no idea how Horatio would react to it.

"Alexx, what can I do for you?" Horatio finally entered his office and closed the door behind him. "Are these the autopsy results of our latest victim?" he asked and walked to his desk but didn't sit down. Instead he just leaned against it and was looking expectantly at their M.E.

"You'd better believe it," she nodded and opened the case file she was still holding it in her hands. An autopsy photo of the victim appeared, which puzzled Horatio.

"Okay?" he asked and didn't know where she was leading to.

"That's the official picture everyone is going to see," she started and looked at her friend. "But I do have another one, only for you."

Horatio furrowed his brows and waited for her to continue. "You're talking in riddles, Alexx."

Unimpressed by his words, Alexx continued. "You remember the lack of blood at the crime scene?"

"Sure," he replied. "It seems like it isn't the original crime scene and that he just unloaded her there."

"I think you're wrong about that; very, very wrong." She grabbed a different picture of the victim and thrust it into Horatio's hand. "I think the reason for the lack of blood is that our victim was attacked by something not human."

"Alexx?" Horatio raised his eyebrows and looked at the picture in his hands. It looked like Alexx had stapled the throat's skin together again, so the deep cut wasn't so salient any more. He took a closer look when he noticed two dark marks on the skin, which hadn't been there before.

Surprised and the same time shocked he looked at her. "You mean..?"

Alexx just nodded and let him come to his own conclusions.

"A vampire?" he asked incredulously.

"Tell me any other reason for the lack of blood and these bite marks here," she pointed at the wounds on the throat.

Horatio sighed and shook his head. "Are you sure that this isn't a bite mark caused by an animal or some puncture mark?"

"Horatio," she started in her best 'you better stop fooling with me' tone, "I've seen so many bite marks from animals in my life that I dream about them and no, there's no medical instrument that would leave such marks. A vampire is the only logical explanation for it."

"Logical?" he smiled at her and handed her the picture back.

"You know what I mean."

Yes, he did and this wasn't good at all. "You know what that means, Alexx? We have a mystical creature, a bloodthirsty vampire to be exact, running around freely, killing woman after woman and feeding from them once in a while," he stated in a growl.

"Yes, that's why I wanted to talk with you alone at first," Alexx nodded and stroke his back to ease the obvious tension in his muscles. She knew that he treated Miami and its citizens like his family and everyone who dared to touch them in a brutal way would have to deal with the consequences. But this time they weren't talking about some mad man killing innocent people, no this time they were talking about a creature, which normally just existed in lurid tales.

"That was good," he nodded. "The others don't have to know about that."

"But Horatio," she tried to appeal to his mind.

"No, Alexx. This stays between you and me, until I decide to tell them. For now, they'll keep on searching for some crazy perp who has an affinity for young women."

"Horatio," she sighed and put away the pictures. "You know, someday will be the day where you should stop being the lonely wolf, maybe this is a sign."

"No, Alexx," he interrupted her and walked towards the glass walls of his office.

Alexx just shook her head and watched him for a while. It was unnerving her that he could be so darn stubborn sometimes. Quietly she approached him and followed his gaze.

"What should I tell them anyway? Hey guys, there's a vampire on the loose and we have to find him?" he said sarcastically.

"Pretty much, yes," Alexx agreed and put a hand on his shoulder. "You need to give them some trust, Honey."

"I already do," he mumbled and watched the exchange between Tim and Calleigh down in the lab below them. "But that's not something ordinary, this is big."

"I know it is," came the soft reply and she wasn't sure if he was still talking about the case or something else, something much more personal. "But I'm sure that you will figure something out. You always do and I'll have your back in any case," she squeezed his shoulder in silent support and turned around to leave.

"Thanks, Alexx," he called after her.

"You're more than welcome, Honey. Did you forget that I'm your mother?" she smiled at him and left his office.

Horatio snorted amused and continued watching his team. He wasn't sure if this was something he could solve, but he would do his best anyway. This day had definitely made a turn into a whole new direction and now he had to find out what to make out of it.

_Tbc if you want to_


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and sorry for the delay in updating the next chapter. University got the better of me and kept me quite busy. I'm doing my best to post more regularly, if you want me to. **

**Chapter 3**

With a heavy sigh, Horatio closed his front door behind him and for a few moments he just leaned against the cool wood. _"What a day,"_ he thought, but immediately corrected himself. _"Better make this a week."_ Since almost two weeks the whole Miami Dade Crime Lab was searching for anything that could lead to their serial killer, but they hadn't come up with anything so far. This guy was good, Horatio admitted, but he knew he was better; he had to be better than him.

Slowly he pushed himself from the door, kicked off his shoes, got out of his jacket the same time and shuffled into his spacious kitchen. There he opened his fridge, grabbed something to eat and wandered into his living room. After putting his food down on the coffee table, he pulled his dress shirt out of his trousers and made himself comfortable.

With a satisfied 'mhm' he savored his dinner and closed his eyes while doing so. This case was getting him and he knew it. It became more and more difficult to calm the chief who demanded results; results Horatio didn't have.

"I can't perform miracles," he said to himself and opened his dress shirt in order to pull it off. Since he didn't need to be dressed formal at home, this would be much more comfortable. "That's better," he said and threw the shirt towards one of his reading chairs. Normally he would go upstairs and change, but right now he couldn't bring himself to do that.

Instead he stayed on his couch, stretched out his legs and grabbed a journal, which was lying on the table. Horatio was still a bit restless because of this whole vampire thing, even though Alexx had told him about it a week ago.

It wasn't that he didn't believe in vampires. He did, whether he was a scientist or not. In fact he had kept personal records about supernatural activities in Miami. He knew that there was some kind of vampire community in the city, as weird as this may sounded, but the vampire, he and his team were dealing with, was new in the city.

He was probably new in the city, but he wasn't unfamiliar to Horatio. No, he had sort of met him before, many years ago, while he had still lived in New York and this didn't make it any easier for him. It was a good thing that Alexx didn't know about that, or she would be around him 24/7, asking all kind of questions he couldn't answer. This woman had always been interested in supernatural things and he knew that as much as this vampire scared her, she was also curious about him.

So why was he here? Why Miami of all places? Horatio didn't know, but he was determined to find out. There was just the question of how. The community was rather very secretive when it came to one of their own and getting information would be a hard task.

"Why do I always get the vampires? Wouldn't a normal serial killer be okay once in a while?" he asked no one in particular, opened the journal and fumbled for a pen. He had written down all the latest vampire activities in the last six month and nothing hinted that this guy had been here in Miami whilst that. He had also checked cold cases, but to no avail. The vampire was very effective. He seemed to look for a victim, get them to the beach and then kill them. After that he disappears for a while and suddenly comes back. The modus operandi was always the same and yet they couldn't catch him.

"He's fooling with us, playing cat and mice and we let him play." This wasn't Horatio's liking, but for now he couldn't change it. The team was still searching for some freak, who enjoyed brutal killings and for now it would remain like this. Alexx thought it would be so easy to tell people that they were dealing with something already dead, but she was wrong. In his past he had seen a lot of people regarding other people as crazy when they claimed that vampires and other nightly creatures existed and even though he hoped that his team wouldn't react that way, he didn't know for sure.

And in fact, what kind of difference would it make anyway if he told them about the true nature of their suspect? Absolutely none. They still needed to catch him. Period.

He quickly wrote down some notes and ate the rest of his meal. No need to make Alexx angry, when she found out that he wasn't eating regularly. Upsetting momma bear was never a good thing, no matter how old you were.

A look at his watch told him that he needed to go to bed in order to get at least some hours of rest, knowing that the next stressful day was already waiting for him.

Making a mental note that he would give his team the day after tomorrow off if they didn't find any new leads, he made his way upstairs to his bedroom. Now he would just have a quick shower to get rid of the grime and then slid under his cold sheets and let sleep claim him. Maybe tomorrow he'd solve the different problems he was dealing with.

_Tbc if you like_


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, but this chapter is a bit longer than the last one, so I hope you don't mind. Okay, Horatio is investigating supernatural things…will there be a new case with a new victim or will the team be able to stop the perp? Read and find out. Thank you for your reviews.**

**Chapter 4**

When Horatio slipped out of his Hummer a few days later, he was literally holding his breath about what he had to expect. Was it another victim of the vampire? Would they once again see this gruesome sight of a young, beautiful woman being defaced by some undead creature? How long was he able to keep the secret about it?

His team hadn't asked yet, because there was no reason for them to do so, since they'd never seen the photograph Alexx had shown him, but he definitely noticed the slight changes of their behaviors. Their skins were thin and one wrong word could lead into a heated argument, without any obvious reasons. Hopefully this would be a normal case, without any supernatural interruptions.

"Frank, please tell me that this is not the work of our serial killer," he approached the detective.

"Nope, not this time, H. Victim is male and," he looked around, "since this isn't the beach, it's quite safe to say, that he had nothing to with it."

Horatio let out his breath and smiled at Frank. "Finally some good news," he said and turned his head to observe the area around them. They were far away from the city, in the glades and practically in the middle of nowhere. There was no way that a vampire would bring his victim here, except for the reason that he lived here; which was pretty much unlikely. "So the victim?" he turned his attention back to Frank.

"Victim is white, male, about 35-40 years old and was shot in his chest," Frank read out his notes and looked up from his pad when he heard the other cars approaching.

"Alexx is already there?" Horatio asked and greeted his team.

"Yes, she is," Frank confirmed.

"Good. Speed you'll have a look at the victim. And take pictures. Eric, I've noticed some treadmarks dead ahead; seems like they lead to our victim."

"I'm on my way," Eric walked back to the Hummer to get the necessary gadgets.

"I'll chat with Alexx and see if she's already found something out," Speed said and made his way to the victim.

"You do that," H nodded and turned to his bullet girl. "The victim has been shot, so there is a possibility that the bullet or the cartouche is still here."

"Finally a case after my liking," Calleigh smiled at him and grabbed her kit.

"I knew you'd say that, Cal," Horatio smirked and winked at her.

"You know me too well Handsome," she countered back. "Maybe the metal detector will help."

"It's definitely worth a try," Horatio commented and watched her walking back to the Hummer.

"You're quite a lucky guy, you know that?"

"Who? Me?" He looked at Frank, who shot him an amused glance.

"Sure. I know a lot of guys who would murder to get some attention from our southern belle, and you do nothing…and have it."

Horatio furrowed his brows in confusion. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure, just keep on acting like you have no idea, but everyone knows that she worships the ground you're walking on. Hell, even I noticed the looks she's giving you, when she thinks that no one is watching," Frank rolled his eyes.

"You're seeing things, Frank," Horatio said in the typical tone that indicated that this subject was closed.

"Oh yeah…I see a lot of…_things_," Frank said anyway, but decided to drop the subject. For now.

It was some time later, when there was suddenly commotion coming from the direction where the body was. Horatio immediately looked up from the cigarette butt he had found and noticed that an agitated Eric was running towards him. "Eric, what's wrong?" he said louder and stood up from his crouching position.

Eric was bit out of breath and did his best to talk and breath the same time. "Snake…body…Alexx," he panted.

"What?" Horatio asked alarmed. "What do you mean? The victim was bitten by a snake?" he tried to make sense of the fragments.

"No," the younger man shook his head. "Alexx was bitten. She had rolled the body on its side and suddenly a snake came out of nowhere."

"Damn it," Horatio growled and he felt the panic risen in his chest. "You go to the hummer and call the paramedics, tell them that they have to be here as soon as possible, you got that? As soon as possible, every second counts," he talked insistently to his colleague. "Our cells don't have connections here, so use the radio," he instructed him.

"Understood," Eric nodded and pressed a tissue against his nose which had started to bleed.

"Good," Horatio nodded and made his way to Alexx. When he saw Calleigh coming towards him he stopped her immediately. "You go and look after Eric, I don't want him to faint."

"But…"

"No but, Calleigh. We don't know where the snake is so please go to the Hummer and Eric," he told her more sternly and didn't want to hear any arguments.

Calleigh didn't like that at all, but obeyed to his order.

"Speed," Horatio called when he saw the other man sitting next to Alexx, who was holding her neck. "Alexx, what happened?" he asked softly and kneeled down next to her.

"We wanted to see if there were any traces underneath the body, so I asked Alexx to turn it," Speed replied and it was obvious that he was in shock. "Then out of sudden, there was this snake, striking and hitting Alexx in the neck."

"Do you know what kind of snake it was?" Horatio asked, because this was very important.

"It rattled," Speed said and looked at his surrogate mom.

"It did," Alexx agreed and did her best to stay calm, which was anything but easy.

"Okay, so it was a rattlesnake. Probably a diamond rattlesnake," Horatio concluded. This wasn't good at all. The rattlesnake's venom was one of the most dangerous ones in North America and the fact that it had bitten Alexx in the neck was even worse. "Show me where the bite is," he demanded.

"It's right here," Speed said and Alexx lifted her hand away.

"Okay, I'm gonna suck the venom out," Horatio declared, but was stopped by Tim.

"That's too dangerous, H. If you have only the slightest wound in your mouth, the venom can get into your system," he warned the red head. "We should wait for the ambulance. As long as Alexx won't move, there's a big chance that the venom won't spread all over the body."

Horatio knew about the risks, but he didn't care. They were in the middle of nowhere and the next hospital was far away. "We have to try," he stated and ignored Tim's ranting about the risks. "You go to the others and tell them what kind of snake it was, so they can tell the paramedics. Without the correct antiserum, we won't have any chance."

"Horatio, don't do it. They will come with a helicopter," Speed argued back, not wanting his boss to take this risk.

"This wasn't a request, Speed. It was an order and now get your ass to the others." He hated talking like this to one of his closest friends, but he didn't want to lose any more time than he already had.

For a moment it seemed like Speed wanted to argue back, but in the end he hoped that Alexx would talk Horatio out of this crazy idea and ran to the others.

"He's right you know," Alexx said softly. "It's a great risk."

"Shh, don't talk, it'll only strain you," Horatio smiled at her.

"No, really, Horatio," Alexx continued. "What if the venom gets into your body? We should wait for the ambulance."

"We don't have time for that," he said and rested his fingers against the wound. Carefully he let his fingertips travel over her neck and nodded to himself. "The venom is already spreading due to your quick pulse."

"You can feel that?" she asked him in awe. Horatio was always good for a surprise.

"Yeah," he nodded. "It's warmer," he explained and stopped in his movements.

"But still, if it gets into your body," Alexx repeated her worries, but was interrupted by Horatio.

"It's not like it could kill me, huh?" he grinned at her and his eyes looked suddenly crystal blue. "And now don't move and let me do the work," he commanded in a deep voice and carefully put one hand on her shoulder while the other held her head.

"Horatio..," Alexx tried it one last time, but was once again interrupted by him.

"Too late," he growled, showed his fangs and bit her in the neck.

Alexx whimpered when his teeth bore into her skin, but then all she felt was a calm feeling spreading inside of her. She couldn't even explain how it felt, but it didn't hurt at all.

Horatio meanwhile was busy running his fingers over Alexx' skin, in order to find out if he was really catching all the venom in her system or not. He increased his sucking when he felt that the venom was still spreading and after a few moments he stopped it completely. Slowly he let go of her shoulder and gave her a devilish smile. "Better stay like this, I took about a pint," he told her and with that he stood up again. With relish he ran his tongue over his fangs and lips, turned around and looked into the shocked faces of his team. "Oops."

Actually the team had wanted to stop Horatio from his plan and therefore decided to go to him and Alexx, but what they'd witnessed when they'd come closer had shocked and deeply disturbed them the same time.

Eric and Calleigh had leveled their guns at him and looked determined to shoot him in case he made the wrong move. "Stay where you are," they shouted in almost perfect unison, the disbelief clear in their voices.

Amused, Horatio lifted his arms. "You don't want to shoot me, right?"

"I wouldn't try it out if I were you," Eric said and couldn't believe his eyes. His boss a vampire? Vampires didn't even exist.

Slowly, Alexx sat up with a grown and in an instant Speed was by her side.

"Alexx, are you okay? What has he done to you?" he quickly asked, his eyes glued to the big bite marks.

"Nothing," she shook her head and felt dizzy.

Worried Horatio turned around and looked at her. "Alexx are you okay? Are you hurting?" he asked and wanted to kneel down next to her, but didn't have a chance, since Speed was literally in his face in an instant.

"Keep your hands off her," he growled and didn't care if this was his boss…or whatever this was anyway.

"You have no idea what's going on," Horatio growled in turn.

"Folks please," Alexx wanted to get their attention, but everyone was focused on Horatio.

"No, you have no idea what's going on," Calleigh said and felt like she had entered some twilight zone. This man, this…creature couldn't be her Horatio. No way, this couldn't be! "Touch her and we will shoot you."

Horatio was torn between helping Alexx, who looked really sick, and getting shot. He couldn't risk getting shot, because then he couldn't provide Alexx any help, but he also knew that they were losing precious time.

"Step away from her," Speed ordered him and tried to push him backwards. He wouldn't allow that he could hurt Alexx more than he obviously already did.

"Make me," Horatio snarled and when Speed pushed him a third and forth time, he lost his calm and showed him exactly what he was capable of. He didn't even use his full strength when he pushed Speed away, but suddenly the man was lying like a turtle on his back a few meters away from the rest.

That's when the shot rang out.

Time stood still and Horatio awaited the hot pain of a bullet entering his body, but much to his surprise nothing happened. Confused he turned around and saw Calleigh who was pointing her gun into the air.

"Please don't make me shoot you," she whispered, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Cal," he whispered, but this time it was him who was interrupted by Alexx.

"Stop this!" she demanded. "All of you! Let him do what he has to do and stop the fighting," she said and took a deep breath, because her lungs were hurting.

Horatio was by her side in an instant and searched for any remains of the venom in her body, but didn't feel any. "The venom must've already attacked your body," he told her softly. "But this shouldn't be a problem," he then smiled and reached for his pocket knife.

The others squalled but he didn't care. Instead he quickly slid his wrist and pressed it against Alexx' mouth. "You know the drill," he told her and rested one hand above her heart.

"What the hell are you doing?" Speed demanded who had overcome the first shock.

"Saving her life, what else?" Horatio just smirked in response and could feel that her heart was beating more and more regularly. "Good girl," he praised her and when he was satisfied with what he was feeling he took his wrist off her mouth. Casually he pressed his thumb on his wound and smiled at Alexx. "Better now?"

"Yes," she nodded in reply.

"Good."

"Oh my gosh, the bite marks are fading," Speed exclaimed and pointed at her neck.

Curiously, the others approached them and stood in awe when they saw how the marks disappeared more and more. Suddenly they heard the loud noises of a helicopter and Frank who was approaching them.

"What are you doing here the whole time?" he asked. "I was waiting for the helicopter and no one was coming."

"I sucked the venom out," Horatio explained and it wasn't even a lie.

"That's pretty senseless," Frank commented nonchalantly. He as a Texan knew his ways around snakes.

"Probably, but sometimes you don't have any other chance," Horatio shrugged.

"What about your wrist?" Frank asked and pointed towards it.

"It's fine, just a scratch," Horatio told him and showed him the wrist, where was indeed just a slight scratch any longer.

"I don't think that I need to go to the hospital any longer," Alexx declared when she saw the paramedics approaching.

"You bet!" Horatio turned around. "You still need to get checked out, I probably didn't get all of the venom out," Horatio played his role perfectly.

"You should better get examined too," Frank chimed in.

"No need, I'm feeling fine. There's a case to solve."

"Horatio, I mean really, a rattlesnake's venom is…"

"I said that I'm feeling fine," Horatio told him more seriously.

"I warned you," the Texan rolled his eyes, held up his hands and walked to his car.

Horatio was watching the paramedics intently and told them that he had sucked out the venom. Once again he ignored the scolding coming from the men and accompanied them till they lifted Alexx into the helicopter. He quickly stepped away from it when they started the rotors and then watched them fly away. He could feel the stares coming from his team mates, so he turned around and glared at them. "What are you waiting for? We have a case to solve."

Their jaws literally hit the ground. "Horatio..we..this…"

"_This_ is nothing that should be talked about in public," he interrupted them before they could let out his secret. "Meet me tonight at my place and we can talk, but not here and not now."

_**Tbc if you like**_


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews. So how will the team react and what is Horatio's story? Read and find out. Oh and..it's a long chapter, so be prepared.^^**

**Chapter 5**

It was just after 8 p.m. when two cars and one motorcycle stopped in front of Horatio's beach house. The way to the house hadn't been easy at all. First, it was a bit out of town and second, there had been a gatehouse at the beginning of the street. Of course they had heard of such streets and had also handled cases where the victims had lived in such exclusive areas, but that their boss was living in such a neighborhood had definitely surprised them.

What had even more surprised them was the fact, that the gatekeeper had just waved them through without asking for their I.D.'s, which was pretty untypical, since the residents of such areas wanted their privacy and paid a lot of money for it. So did this mean that Horatio was really waiting for them? Or had this just been a coincidence? Whatever it was, they were going to find out.

Together they made their way to the front door and couldn't help but letting their eyes roam over the front garden. To their right, the Hummer was parked on the driveway, which told them, that they really were at the correct address. To their left, they saw a nice rock garden, including a gurgling fountain.

"This must have cost a fortune," Eric whispered in awe and the others could just nod in agreement. They knew pretty much what Horatio's income was and there was no way that he could afford such a house with his salary.

"This is kinda weird," Speed voiced what everybody was thinking and carefully rang the bell. They had no idea what they had to expect, but the sight that opened the door for them, definitely wasn't.

"Finally," Horatio greeted them and opened the door a bit wider. He was dressed casually in jeans and t-shirt, his ever present sunglasses nowhere to be seen. "Come on in, we're already waiting for you."

"_We?"_ They looked at each other in confusion.

"It's either staying outside or getting in folks," Horatio sighed and nodded in approval when they slowly entered the cool house. Horatio closed the door behind them and made his way to, what the others assumed, the living room was. "They finally made it," he called out, which made the others even more confused.

Didn't he want to talk in private? Who's the other person in the house? Another vampire? Did he actually wanted to talk or did he have something more sinister in his mind? They'd seen what he was capable of and they knew they couldn't stand a chance against him or let alone two of his kind. Shivers were running down their spines, when they carefully followed him.

"Too bad, you won the bet, Honey. I thought they would come straight from shifts end," they heard the other voice reply and when they finally entered the living room, it took a load off their minds.

"Alexx!" they exclaimed and let out a deep breath.

"Of course it's me, babies," the woman smiled from the couch. "What did you expect? A coven?" she laughed and rolled her eyes, when she just got an awkward silence in response.

"See? I told you so," Horatio chuckled amused. "This makes 20 bucks, Alexx."

"It's really a shame," she shook her head. "I'll give you the money later," she told him.

"That's fine by me, I can wait," he nodded and looked at his other guests. "You want something to drink?"

In unison they winced and turned their heads into his direction. "Uh…"

Horatio rolled his eyes at them. "Water maybe? I also have fresh made lemonade," he offered them.

"Lemonade maybe?" Calleigh asked and the others nodded.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few. Make yourself comfortable," he replied and disappeared into the kitchen.

"You know, he won't bite your heads off," Alexx commented and silently ordered them to sit down on the couch and chairs.

"Yeah, he only bites in our necks," Speed snorted and got a glare in response.

"That wasn't nice, Timothy," Alexx chided him.

"But the truth," Eric supported his friend. "I mean…we saw it today," he elaborated.

"It's not exactly the truth, it's not like he bites everyone in his near," Alexx responded.

"Why are you here, Alexx? I thought you were still at the hospital?" Calleigh changed the subject, because she wasn't in the mood for a heated argument, and right now every wrong word could lead into it.

"Oh, the doctors released me early afternoon. I was feeling fine and they couldn't detect any venom in my blood. To be honest, I've never felt better," she replied happily.

"You sound like you're high, Alexx," Horatio laughed from the kitchen and moments later, appeared with a tray again. "But then again, you always do when you drink my blood."

"That's not my fault, you made me drink it this time," Alexx argued back and helped Horatio to distribute the drinks.

The rest of the team just stared at the conversation the two had and felt like they had stepped into the Buffy universe. They were talking about drinking blood like it was a normal thing everyone would do, but it sure as hell wasn't. The situation was almost surreal and neither of them did know what to say.

"I think we shocked them," Horatio commented in his casual way, but inside he was tense. He loved his life like it was, with all the people that belonged to it. His team was the closest thing to a family that he could call his and he didn't want to lose his friends.

"It seems like it," Alexx nodded and looked at the dumbfounded faces of her colleagues. She knew that Horatio was afraid of their possible rejection and she had a bad conscience, because she somehow made him to reveal his true nature. Not that she had done it on purpose, but nevertheless. "You can drink the lemonade, you know?" she hinted softly and took a sip of it in order to be a good role-model.

Like as they'd arranged it, the three took their glasses and took a careful sip.

"It's…good," Calleigh uttered and kept the glass in her hands. "So…the venom didn't cause any damage?" she asked and looked hesitantly between Horatio and Alexx.

"No, it didn't. Thank God," Alexx answered her, happy that at least one of them said anything. "But the doctor told me, that even though it was a great risk of Horatio, it probably saved my life. The bite had been in a very sensitive area and since we were so far out of the city…," she trailed off.

Calleigh just nodded in understanding and looked at her fellow campaigners who seemed to have lost their tongues. Though she could see that Eric was rather okay and probably even curious about this whole vampire thing, it was different with Speed. He was brooding over it and she knew it.

Horatio let out a sigh and sat down next to Alexx, who was now sitting in between himself and Calleigh. "You know, you can ask… I mean you wanted to talk about it earlier and now…you have the chance to do so."

Eric put his glass on the coffee table in front of him and showed his courage. "I never thought that…you know…vampires exist."

Horatio just smiled at him. "Well I'm the living…or not so living proof that we do exist."

"We? Are there more?" Eric went into it and wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer. Just thinking about other undead people walking around, scared him a bit.

"Of course there are," Horatio grinned. "Everywhere, all over the world. I can't think of any country where you won't find at least one of us. Well maybe not in the Arctic or something, but otherwise…," he shrugged.

"Are you a vampire too, Alexx?" Eric asked and held his breath.

"No," she giggled. "Most definitely not. I'm as alive as you are."

"But you drank his blood," Speed pointed out and vowed that he would kill Horatio if he had hurt his mom in any way.

"I did, yes. But this doesn't make me a vampire. Horatio just helped me heal, that's all."

"How's that?" Calleigh asked confused. "How can blood help?"

"Well, it's not just blood," Horatio replied. "A vampire's blood is different from human's one. It's healing blood."

"Healing blood?" Speed snorted.

"Believe it or not, but it is," Alexx said. "Why do you think can a vampire survive a gun shot?"

"Because he's already dead, probably?" Speed replied sarcastically.

Alexx rolled her eyes. "And why don't you see bullet holes on Horatio? Why has his wrist healed? Why did my bite marks fade so quickly?"

This was a question Speed couldn't answer, so he just shrugged. He had never been into these supernatural things, so how should he know why this and that happened?

"Does this mean that you can heal anyone who drinks from your blood?" Eric asked amazed.

"No. Sadly but no. I can't heal every disease. My blood works on wounds and several other things like the snake venom, but I can't heal cancer for example. I can only heal what could happen to me and since I'm dead…I won't get a disease," Horatio explained.

"But it's very helpful anyway," Alexx joked and petted Horatio's leg.

"You've done that before?" Eric asked and he didn't even want to imagine what it'd taste like. Eeeww.

"Yes, I think the first time we tried it out was when I had a toxemia, right?" she looked at Horatio questioningly.

"Hmm, yeah I think it was. You stepped into a rusty nail and were too stubborn to go to a doctor," he rolled his eyes at her. "Your mother was quite frantic on the phone when she called me and as far as I remember you got quite a tongue lashing afterwards," he smirked at the memory.

"Wait, wait… first of all, how can you drink it Alexx? I mean blood isn't exactly something…delicious," Eric held up his hand.

"And what do you mean by "your mother called me"?" Calleigh continued.

"Ah, here are the questions," Horatio smiled and nodded at Alexx. "You're the one who has to answer the first question."

"Oh, that's really hard to describe. It tastes like...water actually. It doesn't taste like anything," she shrugged.

"That's because a human tongue can't taste such flavors," Horatio explained, but wasn't sure if the others had needed this explanation. Their faces said obviously no. "Sorry, but it's the truth."

"So your mom?" Calleigh quickly asked before they would continue talking about such…rather nasty topics.

"Ah, yes…my mom. Well I didn't want to go the doctor, because I was afraid of needles," she started but was interrupted by Horatio.

"Which is rather funny, thinking of her profession," he snickered.

"Yes," she nodded and hit him in his side with her elbow. "Anyway where was I? Right, I didn't go to the doctor and suddenly I felt very ill, my foot started to swell and it felt hot. That's when my mother decided to call Horatio, because she was convinced that I had a toxemia."

"Yeah, and then we cured it, didn't we?" Horatio added. "You had more luck than judgment."

"How...how old were you at that time?" Calleigh asked because nothing of this made any sense. Neither the fact that Alexx didn't go to the doctor, nor that her mother of all people had called Horatio.

"Five…or six…no I was five at that time."

The jaws simultaneously hit the ground. "Five?"

"I'm pretty sure about that, or am I mistaken Horatio?"

"No, I thought you were four but oh well…my memory is not always the best."

"But…but…," Speed stammered and was helped out by Calleigh.

"But for how long do you know each other?"

"Oh that's easy," Horatio grinned. "I've known Alexx since she was a baby. She was about three months old the first time I saw her. She saw me…started crying and…well that's how it started," he laughed.

"You're telling me, that you've known Alexx for all her life?" Speed inquired. "You know, I can fool me on my own, I don't need you for that."

"But he's saying the truth," Alexx stated and gave her boy a serious glare. "Horatio is part of my family for a very long time."

"How long?" Eric asked curiously. If Alexx was saying that it was the truth, he believed her.

"I actually know Alexx' family since I helped her grandmother many, many years ago. She was in trouble and I saved her. And like the women in her family are, she adopted me at an instant. Funny, actually, they all claim to be my mother, but I'm older than them," he chuckled.

This was a lot of information in such a short time and it was pretty difficult to process.

"No man is too old for a little mothering here and there," Alexx chided him and looked at her other babies. "Are you okay?"

Calleigh blinked and shook her head. "It's uhm…not easy to process," she brought out and took a large sip of her drink.

"It sounds hardly believable," Speed stated and stayed to his opinion that only evidence never lied.

"In a normal case, yes," Horatio nodded. "And in a way it depends on your own opinion if you want to believe it or not, but the fact that you've seen what had happened earlier, should normally be enough evidence," he pointed out and slowly stood up from his couch. He still wasn't sure if the others wouldn't shoot him if he made a wrong move. So far they were confused, probably even angry and not believing what they had heard and seen. He could feel the fear still radiating from them and this was always tricky and needed cautious handling.

"But still it's hard to understand and believe, Horatio. I mean…vampires are myths and legends. You see them in horror movies but…," Eric shrugged and watched him walking to one of his bookcases. "Why are you able to walk in the sun anyway?" As much as this was all surreal to him, he couldn't help but being curious the same time.

"That's because I'm a good one," Horatio turned around and smirked.

"A good one? Since when are vampires good?" Speed snorted.

"Well, you shouldn't believe everything that you see on T.V.," Horatio countered amused and grabbed a photo album.

"So you want to tell us that every vampire is good?" Calleigh asked confused.

"No, I didn't say that. I just said that I'm a good one and not every vampire is evil. Of course there are evil vampires, like there are evil humans; that's just how life is," Horatio replied and walked back to the sofa.

"But what's the difference between them? I mean, what makes a vampire good or evil?" Eric chimed in and found this highly interesting.

"Oh well, the most important difference is, that a good vampire can walk around even though it's day. He can live among humans; an evil vampire can't do that. He's most definitely what people call a creature of the night."

"I've never heard of that before," Eric admitted.

"That's fine, Eric. Don't worry about it, most people don't know about that; makes it easier for us to live among you, without being eyed suspiciously or getting pursued. A good vampire has the task to help humans, that's why every good one has a job that contains help in one or the other way. It could be a police officer or a doctor for example. We're not allowed to hurt humans, as long as we have no other chance. We are not allowed to turn humans against their will or even bite them without their consent. You do that, you'll lose your ability to live in the sun. It's just that easy. An evil vampire can do all this things and he indeed doesn't care about what happens to a human. He has nothing to lose."

The three looked stunned at him and were once again speechless. This was getting more and more weird.

"Uhm and how? I mean.. how do you decide that? Can't you just say, I'm good.. and a few years later you can say now I'm evil.. and then….?" Eric asked.

"You decide that the minute you're turned. Of course a good vampire can turn into a bad one, but it actually never happens the opposite way. The problem is, that even if a bad vampire decides, that he wants to be good again, he would never have the ability to walk in the sun. And believe me.. I've never met a bad vampire in all these years who was thinking about it," Horatio replied and gave Calleigh the photo album.

"Ah, okay," Eric replied unsure, because he wasn't sure if he really understood this explanation. Maybe you had to be a vampire to actually see the sense in it.

Noticing this, Horatio smiled at him. "A good vampire wears an item which gives them the opportunity to survive in the sun. In the old days, it was ring with a gem. Women also used to wear it in earrings or a necklace." He showed them a small scar on the underside of his forearm. "You see this? This is where I have mine. A man walking around with a huge ring isn't all that fashionable in the modern world," he chuckled. "Or at least I didn't feel like doing so, so I got it implanted."

"And what kind of gem is that?" Eric asked intrigued after he had examined Horatio's arm.

"Honestly, I don't know. There are only a very few vampires who do know and they keep it as a secret. If everybody would know, even bad ones could find a way to produce their own, you know?"

It surprised Eric that his actually made some sense. "I see," he nodded. "And if you do something bad, they take it away from you," he concluded.

"Exactly," Horatio smiled at him, happy that his explanations had made sense to them.

Calleigh, who had listened to their conversation closely, opened the photo album carefully and hesitated when she saw the first picture. She was about to say something, when Horatio already answered her unspoken question.

"They're digitally remastered since the pictures would probably be faded by now," he told her.

Curiously she looked at him. "Do you still have the originals?"

"Of course," he nodded. "But not here at home, they're somewhere safe. Some of them are so old they need extra care and an extra climate so to say."

"Okay," she replied satisfied and turned the first page. "Oh my God," she exclaimed and pointed at a picture. "This is you and Abraham Lincoln!"

"What?" the boys exclaimed and literally jumped to their feet and gathered around Calleigh and the album.

"Heck, this IS President Lincoln," Speed said and together they turned their heads towards Horatio, who was smiling at them.

"I know what you want to ask, and I can answer you that straight away. No, I didn't know him personally, I just ran into the picture. I was in my own thoughts and didn't realize that they were about to take a picture of him and that's why you can see me in the background."

The three just looked at him and turned their attention towards the picture again. There was unquestionably Horatio on this photograph, wearing a uniform and there was President Lincoln.

"When was this?" Eric asked.

"Oh, this was…," Horatio craned his neck to have a look at the photo, "this was a few days after we won the Civil War actually."

"What?"

"You mean THE Civil War?"

"As far as I know, we only had one, so yeah, THE civil war," Horatio nodded.

"Jeez, Horatio.. how old are you?" Eric asked in complete confusion. He expected that some camera team would enter the room any second and a moderator would shout Busted.

"I was born on April 7th, 1802," Horatio answered truthfully and had no idea of what to expect now.

"1802," Speed snorted and nodded his head. "Of course, when else, right? It's only 200 years ago," he said sarcastically. "Are you sure that it wasn't 1492 and you've been here with Columbus?" he sneered.

"Tim," Calleigh tried to calm him, but to no avail.

"No, Cal. Don't you see that he's playing with us? Fu**ing 1802? Are you all out of your minds?" he looked around and shook his head in despair. "I can't believe it. I can't believe that you actually believe this without any evidence for it."

"But the photos," Eric tried to argue, but was rudely interrupted by his friend.

"Any five year old is capable of manipulating a picture," Speed stated and couldn't believe his eyes and ears. "I so need to get out of this asylum," he said and made his way to the patio door. They were all crazy, yes, that's what they were.

"Timothy," Alexx stood up in order to follow him, but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"It's okay, Alexx. Leave him be. You know what he's like, he needs some time alone to process things," Horatio told her and made her sit down again.

"But," she tried to argue back.

"No buts, it's okay. We should leave him alone. I'll try to talk to him later. If we corner him now, he will just lash out and that's not the idea of this meeting, okay?" he said softly. He was very good at studying people, he had had a lot of practice after all, so he was pretty sure that some cool off time for Speed was what the man needed, or at least he hoped so.

The two other members of the team were torn between following Tim and staying with Alexx and Horatio, but in the end, curiosity won. "So are you really…200 years old?" Eric asked perplexed.

"Not yet, but I will be next year," Horatio clarified and made Alexx chuckle.

"He's very fussy when it comes to his age," she said, ignored his glare and winked at Eric, who gave her a small smile.

"So this photo is real?" Calleigh chimed in.

"It is, yes. I found it in a newspaper after I got home and decided to keep it," Horatio nodded. "Thanks to modern technology, you can make it look like a real photo again," he continued. "So yes, Speed is in a way right that you can manipulate a picture."

Calleigh just nodded and together with Eric she continued to turn over the pages. There weren't a lot of pictures of course, since photography has still been in it's infancy at that time especially for normal people, but it was enough to have a very small glimpse of Horatio's life.

"When was this?" she asked after some time and pointed onto a Horatio who was wearing an army uniform.

"This was…in 1945, a couple of days before we went home from Germany again," he answered her. The tone of his voice showing that this wasn't a topic he wanted to talk about.

"You've been in the Army?" Eric asked nevertheless, because he couldn't picture Horatio as a soldier at all. If one had asked him, he would have said that Horatio was against war.

"Kind off, yes. It was a different time back then and as you know, war has its own laws."

They nodded in understanding, knowing that not every soldier had been there on his or her own will, so they decided to drop the subject, since it was obvious that Horatio didn't want to go into detail. Changing the subject was easy though, when they looked at the next picture and saw Horatio with a baby in his arms.

"Is that Jamie or Bryan?" Calleigh asked surprised and looked at Alexx. If they knew each other for such a long time, it was highly possible that Horatio would know Alexx' kids since their birth as well.

Looking at the picture Alexx shook her head. "Nope, that's none of my babies."

"It's Alexx herself," Horatio continued and grinned at the surprised faces. "Yeah, it's obvious. Don't you see the cranky face she's making?" he laughed and got a slap on his arm.

"Stop that," he muttered.

"Not as long as you won't stop talking such nonsense," Alexx glared at him and then focused on Cal and Eric again. "He's right though. That's me. My father has taken the picture, but please don't ask me how old I was back then."

"That's incredible," Eric whispered. "So it was true? What he said about your grandmother?"

"As true as I'm sitting here, baby," Alexx nodded. "He saved her from a robber all these years ago and since he looked a little lost and like he needed some mothering, she decided to keep him."

"This sounds like I'm a pet, Alexx," he rolled his eyes playfully.

"But we all know better than that," she patted his knee in response.

"Did she know about..I mean…you already were a vampire back then, were you?" Eric took the lead, because he found this highly interesting and in fact amusing. He had always known that Horatio and Alexx had a good friendship, but seeing them now…showed him how close they really were.

"Yes, I already was a vampire, and yes she knew about me. To be honest, I didn't want her to find out, but I was a careless when I used my strength and she saw that."

"I think the reason that she didn't run away was that she was born in the Caribbean and there are a lot of myths about mysterious creatures," Alexx added. "So instead of running, she took him in and cooked him a good meal."

"And since no one stands a chance against such a commanding woman, I just relented and went with her," Horatio chuckled. "From this day on I was part of the family and while they were giving me their trust and a feeling of home, I became their guardian, even though they don't need it _of course_," he raised his eyebrows, which made the others laugh.

"So does everyone know about it? Even the kids?"

"Yeah, we told them quite early about my true nature," Horatio nodded. "They were pretty cool with it, only disappointed when I told them that I couldn't change into a bat, but otherwise they were fine…kids these days," he pulled a face.

"This would have been my next question," Eric laughed.

"Great, I knew Dracula would only cause problems," Horatio groaned playfully and turned his head, so he could see the garden. "I guess I'll try to talk to Speed, before he continues to run a track into my lawn," he sighed and stood up. "If you have more questions about the photos, I'm sure Alexx can answer them. And if you need more lemonade, feel free to raid my fridge," he told them and made his way outside.

There he stopped on the last step of the stair leading into the garden and watched his friend in silence for a few moments. "Please don't fall into the swimming pool, if you can arrange it," he called softly and only smiled at the glare he got in response.

"Why? Are vampires afraid of water? Oh no, they're only afraid of holy water, right?" Speed replied.

"Actually this is only a myth, but I can imagine that driving the Ducati in wet clothes isn't a nice feeling," Horatio answered him and stopped a few steps away from him.

"Whatever," Speed mumbled and wasn't sure of how to handle this situation. He had never been good in such things, so why should it be better now?

"Why don't you believe, that I'm a vampire, Speed?" Horatio just went into it, because he knew beating around the bush wouldn't help at all.

Speed turned around to face him and gave him the best _duh_ expression.

Horatio looked down and smiled to himself. "I could show you my fangs again," he offered and when he looked up he saw the glimpse of a smile. "Or I can bite you, if this makes you happy?"

"No, thank you," Speed snorted and shook his head. "Maybe I should use a stake to see if you really are a vampire," he threatened.

"You could do that," Horatio grinned, "but I think there will be a problem, no...two actually."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Horatio nodded. "First, I doubt that you have one with you," he stated and since he didn't get a reply from Speed he continued. "And secondly, you know that ramming a stake into a heart would also kill a human. So you're in a no win situation, right?"

Speed hated it when Horatio was using his CSI logic, especially when he couldn't argue about it. "Right," he admitted quietly.

"Speed," Horatio made a step towards him. "I don't expect you to believe everything that I'm saying, okay? I don't even expect you to be overly happy about this. All I can hope for is that you all come to terms with it, because I don't want to lose either of you. You're my team, my friends and my family and you all mean a lot to me. If you can promise me to at least think about it, than I'm not only happy but also very relieved. That's all I'm asking for, okay?"

Speed listened carefully to him and noticed the light begging in Horatio's words. "Okay," he nodded after some time and then looked at Horatio who really seemed relieved about that. "Next time, I'm gonna drink a beer, instead of lemonade."

Horatio just smirked. "You do that, my house is always open," he offered him.

"Well, your house probably is, but what about the gate. I mean Jesus... Horatio... what kind of street is this?"

That was his Speed. "Just a normal street with a gate at the beginning," Horatio chuckled. "And as you might have noticed, it was no problem for you to get in, now was it?"

"No," Speed admitted. "We were already wondering if this was a coincidence or not."

"It wasn't. The gatekeeper knows the type of car or motorcycle you're driving, plus the plates. That's why he let you in without asking for your I.D.s."

"I see," Speed nodded and they both walked to the patio again. "This house must have cost a fortune."

"It did, but it's an advantage if you lived and worked for almost two hundred years," Horatio chuckled.

"I guess so," Speed shook his head in disbelieve and could only wonder about all the facts they didn't know about their boss.

Inside the house, the three others were busy chatting about something, but stopped when the two men entered the house.

"Look who I found," Horatio smiled and walked to the couch. "I hope that Alexx didn't tell you a lot of secrets?" he joked.

"No, she just told us when Henry had met you for the first time and how he'd been close to a heart attack when Alexx told him about your nature," Eric grinned widely and took the last sip of his lemonade.

"Oh yeah…this was an interesting meeting," Horatio agreed. "Didn't he wear a cross around his neck, just to be sure that I wouldn't bite him?" he chuckled.

"That he did," Alexx nodded and rolled her eyes at her husband's antics. "It was definitely for the better that I didn't tell him that this is only a myth," she giggled.

"Most definitely, yes, or he would have died of a heart attack, that's for sure," H couldn't help but laugh.

"So is it true that everything they tell us about vampires and how to stop them is a lie?" Eric asked.

"Except of the wooden stake and silver? Yes. I personally don't like the smell of garlic, but I didn't like it when I was still alive so," Horatio shrugged.

"So there's no way of defending oneself?"

"As a human? No, there isn't." Seeing Calleigh's worried face, he smiled gently at her. "As I already told you, the evil ones just come out at night, so during the day…there's nothing to fear. There's a minor chance of being attacked by a vampire, than being attacked of some human perp, so…"

"If this is your way of making people feel better, I think you need to improve that," Speed remarked and emptied his glass. "And before you continue with your horror stories, I'll drive home, or I can't get any sleep tonight." He wasn't afraid or something similar; he just needed some time now to process.

"Well it's the truth," Horatio argued back, but knew that Speed didn't mean it like that.

Speed just smirked and looked at the others. "Are you coming with me?"

"Yeah, I guess I need to make my own wooden stake," Eric joked and looked at Calleigh, who seemed to be a bit undecided. "You coming with us?"

She not only seemed to be undecided, she actually was. There was so much she wanted to know, but then again, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answers. Her world view had shifted today, especially her view about Horatio and for now, she wasn't sure of what to make out of it. "I think so," she answered unsure, but nevertheless stood up with Eric.

Horatio didn't want them to go, but he knew better than to force them to stay. He could only imagine that their minds were working over time to process everything, and he had to give them the time and space to do so. "I already told Speed that you're more than welcome…any time," he told them and walked them to the door. "And if you have questions, then don't hesitate to ask…well as long as it's somewhere private."

"Will do," Eric answered for all of them. He'd always had an open mind for such things, so he was accepting this pretty good, at least easier than Speed and Calleigh. "We'll see you tomorrow then," he said good bye.

"Bright and early," Horatio nodded and watched them walking to their vehicles. "Have a nice evening," he called after them and waited until they had turned a corner, so he couldn't see them any longer. Slowly he closed the door and found himself face to face with Alexx. "So what do you think?"

"Well they didn't run away screaming," she smiled at him, but got more serious when she saw the look on his face. "Don't worry too much, Horatio. Of course, they will need some time to adjust, but I'm sure that this won't change your friendship with them. You need to trust their instincts now and the faith they have in you."

"I know," he sighed and hung his head. "But what if they don't-"

"They will, Honey," she interrupted him. "Don't even think of something else. And now you can tell me about the real reason I started crying when I saw you for the first time," she laughed and took him by the arm. She had great faith in their friends' judgment and she dearly hoped that they wouldn't disappoint her. She could also understand why he hadn't invited Det. Tripp this evening. The man was a good colleague, but he didn't belong to Horatio's inner circle of friends and therefore not to his surrogate family. For now the most important thing was that the team would accept Horatio's confession.

_**Tbc?**_


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews and adding this story to your favorite story list. This means a lot to me. So the team got some explanations considering Horatio's true nature, even though there are still some things left unsaid. Let's see how they'll cope with all the information.**

**Chapter 6**

Obviously bored and a bit annoyed, Speed was leaning against the bar and watched his friend Eric, who tried to get into conversation with two women. He should have known better than to say yes, when Eric had asked him to visit a club tonight and his mood was getting worse and worse.

Actually he had just agreed to it, because he knew that Delko wouldn't leave him alone until he'd say yes and now the fat was in the fire. With a sigh he looked at his watch and rolled his eyes when he saw that it was not even 11 p.m. which meant that this was going to be a very long night. Sure, he didn't mind meeting nice women, but these ones weren't his types. They were…too young, too immature and too pretty actually. He liked real women, down to earth, who had more in their minds than the newest fashion trend. Sure, these ones here were nice to look at, but that was all.

The girlish giggle alone unnerved him big time and when Delko came back with a wide grin, he knew that he had to do something or this night would end in a disaster.

"Yo, Speed," Eric grinned and positioned himself next to his friend. "The girls," he continued and pointed his chin into the direction where the girls were standing, "wouldn't mind having a drink with us. What do you think? Sandy thinks that your beard gives you something dangerous," he smirked and was in his element. He loved going out, flirting with women and taking the one or other home with him.

"Yeah? Well then she should probably hook up with Santa," Speed murmured and already had enough. "I guess I'd better get going then," he shrugged and took the last sip of his drink.

"What? Why? They're nice girls," Eric exclaimed and couldn't believe his ears.

"Yeah, nice to look at, but that's all. No thanks, Delko. Not my type."

Eric let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Why don't you at least have a try?"

"Delko, these girls are barely of legal age, haven't you noticed? Most of the customers here are younger than 25. To be honest I believe a lot of them aren't even 21," he pointed out and could only shake his head at Eric. "It's like robbing the cradle, don't you think?"

"Well I just said something about a drink, not taking them home," Eric argued back and didn't want Speed to believe that he would do something illegal.

"I know, but still I don't want to," Speed nodded. "So if you want to have a drink with them, it's okay. But then I'll be heading home. That's not my scene here."

Being torn between leaving his friend and having a nice time with the ladies or leaving the club with his friend, Eric turned his head towards the girls and cringed when he saw them talking with some boys that seemed to be in a similar age. "Maybe, you're right about that," he sighed and then looked at Speed again. "Okay, so let's get going."

"Best idea I've heard so far," Speed grinned and grabbed Eric by the arm. "Come on, Delko. I'm gonna show you a real bar, with real girls... not these Barbie Dolls."

"Since when do _you_ know good clubs?" Eric asked while they made their way to the exit.

Speed just snorted at that. "Do you believe that I'm only going out with you?"

"Uhm, yeah?"

"Well then you're wrong; because every time you drag me into some club, something happens."

"Like what?" Eric challenged and had no idea what his friend was talking about.

"Oh please, Delko. You're going to tell me that you forgot the night where we had to pull out our badges, because the girls you tried to hook us with, asked us if want some LSD?" Speed asked incredulously.

"Uh..oh yeah…Kim and Betty," Eric nodded.

"I'm amazed that you still know their names," Speed replied sarcastically and then continued with his list. "Or the club that burst into flames? This was definitely the icing on the cake."

"Now that wasn't my fault," Eric said and stumbled out into the cooler night air. "And it's not fair that you mention it." There were still some nights when he dreamed about this catastrophe and saw Connie's dead body on Alexx' table.

Turning around, Speed hung his head and nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. This was inappropriate. But still, every time we go out together, something happens. I don't know why and how…but it happens."

Eric couldn't argue with that, so he just nodded and looked at Speed expectantly. "Okay, so where is this bar?"

"Oh just a few blocks away, we can actually walk there," Speed answered. "Maybe a small walk will sober you up again," he added with an evil smirk.

"I'm not drunk," Eric huffed and followed his friend.

"Sure, Delko, my mistake," Speed chuckled and enjoyed it to tease his friend. Maybe this night wasn't that bad at all.

Two blocks later, they still hadn't reached the promised bar and Eric started to think that Speed had either fooled him, or his friend was drunk himself and so they didn't find the bar. "Are you sure, that this is the right way?" he asked carefully, because normally it was Speed who knew the streets of Miami in and out.

"Why Delko? Are you already tired?" Speed grinned at him and knew that they were on the right way. Two more blocks, or oh well, maybe three and they would arrive at the club. "I thought you're fitter than that."

"I _am_ fitter than that, but I don't feel like walking along the whole strip," Eric shot back. "A cab can't be that expensive…"

"Some sight seeing is always nice," Speed laughed and stopped in his tracks when a young couple was stumbling into their way. Well the night seemed to be over for these two. Looking around, he tilted his head and wrinkled his brows when he noticed the name of the club, where the couple seemed to have spent their evening. "Silent Sinners," he read out loud and then called Eric, who had continued walking again. "Delko!"

"What?" the other man turned around and walked back with an annoyed sigh. "Have you suddenly realized that this is not the way to your club?"

"No," Speed put him off. "But look at this one, it's called Silent Sinners," he pointed at the neon sign.

"So?" Eric asked confused.

Speed just rolled his eyes. "Isn't that the club from our killer case? The girls had a stamp on their bodies from this club," he explained.

It had been a coincidence that they had actually found the stamps, because they were only visible under UV light. But since they hadn't found any trace on the bodies, Horatio and Alexx had had a try and much to their relief it had been a success.

"True…yeah you're right. I'm sure that it was this symbol," Eric confirmed. "What do you think? Should we go in and have a look? Maybe we can put the drinks on the lab...you know.. undercover work," he laughed.

"Sure, if you're the one who tells our vampire boss," Speed shrugged. "I'm sure that H will find it highly amusing... maybe he will only nibble your neck, instead of biting you."

"Oh…well yeah, maybe we shouldn't put the drinks on the lab then," Eric quickly backpedaled.

"I thought so," Speed commented dryly and made his way to the entry. It had been three months ago that they had found out about Horatio and they all had a difficult time to come to terms with the knowledge that their boss was technically a dead man, but it had improved steadily. Sometimes they were still a bit unsure around him, but most of the time, it was like nothing had changed.

"Do you really think he would do that?" Eric followed him and looked around because he'd never been to this particular club before. But maybe they could find something out. It had been quite some time since the last body had been found, who was related to this serial killer and maybe they were lucky and he was on the hunt tonight.

"How should I know?" Speed just shrugged. "You should ask him, not me." Speed was pretty sure that Horatio wouldn't do that, but it was far too funny to scare Delko like that.

"Ah probably better not," Eric replied and together they made their way to the bar, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched by a pair of eyes.

"So what do you want to drink?" Speed asked and leaned casually against the bar with his back to the crowd.

"I take a beer," Eric said and waited until the bartender had taken their orders. "Have you ever thought of the fact that maybe some girls that we've met weren't... I mean... alive?" he asked.

"Mhm…actually no," Speed said honestly. "But who knows? I mean.. we didn't know about H, so who knows if we've met a vampire before."

"Yeah," Eric agreed and took a sip of his beer. "Maybe some of the perps we've arrested were also vampires," he though out loud and didn't notice that someone was approaching them.

"Sure, why not?" Speed shrugged.

"You know what? Even though.. they're creepy and dangerous, I would really like to see one," he admitted. He wanted to know if they looked the same as Horatio, or if they somehow differed. Horatio had told them that they only could go out at night, so maybe they were ashen-faced like in the horror movies.

"Well it's night already, maybe you're lucky," Speed said quietly, because something just didn't feel right here. He had no intention of meeting such a vampire. He knew what it felt like to be pushed around by one, and Horatio hadn't even used his whole strength he was sure.

"You're right, maybe we will meet some," Eric chuckled and felt his blood suddenly run cold when he heard a dark voice behind them.

"Some wishes... should be left unsaid."

In an instant their bodies stiffened, not able to turn their heads to see the other person and they practically jumped out of their skin when they felt two strong hands on both of their shoulders. Their hearts were beating so fast that it felt like they were going to burst out of their chests any second. Damn Delko and his wishes!

"So gentlemen, what are you doing in this particular club?" the person asked and smirked when Eric and Speed ever so slowly turned their heads towards him. He could literally see the moment when it dawned to them that they wouldn't end on the menu of a blood thirsty vampire.

"Jeez, H!" Speed exclaimed. "Don't ever do that again!"

"What?" Horatio asked innocently and pointed to the bartender that he wanted something to drink.

"You know perfectly well what I mean. Don't ever scare us like this again, or you might have to search for another team, because we'd be dead then."

"Welcome to the club," Horatio chuckled and accepted his drink. "My question still stands, what are you doing here? I've never seen you going to this club before?" he asked curiously.

"We…uhm..," Eric stammered because he still needed to process that their boss had fooled them great time. "We thought that we might have a look if our guy is here tonight," he then said and took a sip of his beer in order to get some color in his face again.

"Ah," Horatio nodded. "Well he isn't." There was no way that he wouldn't recognize this guy, especially since it was easy for him to spot a vampire anyway.

"Okay, uhm…so for how long have you been here?" Speed asked.

"Tonight? For about two hours," Horatio replied. "But I've been here quite frequently since the case started." He had hoped to find him, but to no avail. "I have a table right there," he pointed towards a seemingly quiet area, "I don't think that here's the perfect place to talk about it, right?"

"Right," the boys agreed and followed him.

"So H, do you put the drinks onto the lab's bill?" Eric couldn't help but ask.

Horatio just turned around and furrowed his brows. "No, why should I?"

"Oh uhm.. because you'd probably call it undercover work?" Eric tried to explain.

Horatio gave him an incredulous look. "What have you been drinking?"

"Uh…nothing…I don't know," Eric stammered quickly and noticed Speed's look. "What? It was a worth a try," he told him in a whisper, which Horatio tried to overhear.

"Just remember what I told you about the biting," Speed snickered and sat down at the small round table. "So," he looked at H and wanted to change the subject, before Eric would literally risk his neck with more careless talk. "I guess the case doesn't let you go?"

"Not really," Horatio shook his head. "There's nothing worse than a serial killer, who is clever enough in not leaving any evidence behind," he sighed. The fact that it was a vampire too and that Horatio knew him, made it even worse. Not that his team knew about this little fact, because he still didn't want to tell them. He was afraid that they got even more scared about this whole vampire thing, if they realized that vampires could get really dangerous. He knew that they still were a bit cautious around him from time to time and he was afraid that this would get worse when they found out. He would tell them though, if there wasn't any other way, he had promised Alexx that.

"True," Speed agreed. "But he probably left town, I mean it's been almost three months since the last murder."

"Yes, you never know…" Though Horatio seriously doubted that. His gut feeling was telling him that he was still here in Miami, somewhere, waiting for something special. Horatio just didn't know what this was.

As much as Eric loved his work, this was their free time and work didn't belong here. Plus, the fact that they had found Horatio in a club practically begged to be examined. "So, H.. do you often go to clubs?" he asked with a smile and sipped on his beer. Now was interrogation time.

Horatio suppressed to roll his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, Eric. I do go out. Why shouldn't I?" Though he normally visited vampire clubs and not a normal one.

"Don't know," the other man shrugged. "You just don't seem to be the typical clubber."

"Like you?" Speed chimed in and had no idea where this was going.

Horatio just chuckled at that. Speed had hit the nail on the head.

Eric just shrugged nonchalantly. It was no secret that he liked going out and have a good time. He painted the town red almost every weekend and sometimes even within the week, but then he needed to watch out for his blood alcohol level. There had been one time, when he'd still been a bit tipsy and not feeling well after a particular long night and he had never forgot the autopsy and the long way to the restrooms. No need to say that this was the first and last time when he'd come to work like this. The teasing of his colleagues hadn't stopped for weeks after that.

"Sure, like me," he just said and licked his lips in anticipation of his next question. "So, are you always alone?"

Horatio raised his brows and tilted his head. "Why?" he asked cautiously.

"Better think about what you're saying H, or he will drag you into every club he knows," Speed warned his friend. He knew after all what he was talking about.

"Haha, no I'm just asking, because I'm sure that his girlfriend doesn't like the idea of staying at home while her man is clubbing."

"What?" Horatio brought out and almost choke on his drink. "What are you talking about?"

Speed was as surprised as his boss and eyed Delko, who seemed to be very pleased with himself. "Wanna let us in, Delko?" Horatio had a girlfriend? Now that was something new for him. Not that he was always up to date when it came to rumors but this was BIG.

Eric just smiled broadly. "Oh come on, H. Don't act like that, it's so obvious that you and Paula are a couple."

"Paula?" the two others shouted in unison. "You mean Paula like in our Paula from the registration desk in the lab?"

"Uh-huh," the Cuban nodded.

"I've never heard such nonsense in a long time," Speed commented and wondered what Delko had been drinking tonight.

"My foot! Have you never noticed that H stays a bit longer to talk to her?" he pointed out.

"Oh my god…yeah you're right," Speed said sarcastically. "That's what people call good manners, Delko. If you continue this line of thoughts you'd have a fling with almost every female staff member that…oh wait... you _had_ a fling with almost every female staff member in the lab."

Eric just grinned and saw his theory as proven. "See?"

"Did you hit your head or something?" Speed asked. "So what other…logical…reasons are there according to you?"

"Oh that's easy," Eric sat up, full in his element. "She's always watching him when he's leaving the desk and she always wants to give him his messages personally." Well if this wasn't obvious, he didn't know.

"She is his secretary, of course she wants to give him his messages personally, she's supposed to do just that," Speed exclaimed and threw his hands up in horror. "How did you pass your CSI test?"

"I used my charm of course," Eric laughed. "Don't tell me that you didn't see the glances between them? The fact that he always leans to her when they're talking."

The two were so engaged in their conversation, that they didn't even notice that Horatio became smaller and smaller in his seat.

"Yeah, your charm… that's the only reason," Speed said and continued talking so Eric wouldn't interrupt him. "H, how could you hire Mr. CSI here?" he looked at his boss and began to wonder when Horatio just sat there and didn't say anything.

"See," Eric said and interpreted Horatio's behavior as a confirmation. "I told you that there's something going on," he laughed.

Confused Speed looked between the two men. "No, there's nothing going on between Horatio and Paula, you're seeing things. He's not in love with her…," he then grinned and had his own suspicions.

"Really? There's no reason why he shouldn't be."

"Well yeah, he is in love, but not with her," Speed pointed out and noticed that Horatio wriggled about on his chair.

Now he had Eric's attention. "Yeah? So Mr. Holmes then tell us your theory..," he grinned and had the time of his life. It had been a good decision to leave the other club.

"No, why should I? You're a CSI yourself," Speed teased him and knew that he was on the right track, when Horatio looked like he wanted to hide somewhere.

"Spoilsport," Eric snorted. "You seriously want to tell me that he has something going with one of the girls in the lab and it's not Paula? So who is it then? Calleigh?" he laughed loudly, but it died the second Speed answered him.

"Yes."

"Are you serious?" Eric asked surprised.

"Yeah," Speed nodded and together they eyed their boss. "Why don't we ask someone who can answer this question?"

While Eric's idea about Paula had been weird but nevertheless funny, Speed's idea about Calleigh wasn't funny at all. "We aren't together," he said seriously. "I don't have a girlfriend…neither in the lab, nor somewhere else."

"Mhm…sure..," the boys just smiled at each other. They had hit a spot here apparently.

Horatio just shook his head. "Calleigh and I are good friends, nothing more, nothing less." He had no idea what made them even think that they were a couple, because they most definitely weren't.

"I think we need another round, before we continue this discussion," Eric grinned and waved the servant. Maybe Horatio would become a bit more talkative when he had some alcohol in his blood, but then again, he wasn't sure if alcohol had any effect on a vampire at all.

"I'll second that, Delko," Speed smiled and was really looking forward to this conversation, even though he felt a bit bad for Horatio. But the chance to grill their boss was too good to waste it. He could only hope that he wouldn't bite them in public, but then again, life was a risk anyway and this was too good to be true.

_Tbc?_


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews. I hope you don't mind that some chapters are quite long, but I don't necessarily want to divide them into several parts. **

**On a second note: Someone asked if there will be a sequel of "Twist Of Fate" and since the comment was anonymous I will answer it here: There are some ideas floating around, but nothing concrete yet. I can't promise if there'll be a sequel in the **_**near**_** future, because I'm currently writing another story. But never say never. **

**Chapter 7**

It was a week later, to be exact late Friday afternoon, when Horatio was busy concentrating on the two bullets he had to compare under the microscope. The week had been a long one; not because there had been so many cases, more like the opposite. It had been so quiet, that they had decided to work on some cold cases and the case file from one of those was currently lying next to him on the work bench.

The boys had already signed off and as far as Horatio had understood it, were ready for another night in the clubs. This time though, he had made it perfectly clear that they wouldn't meet him again. This one night a week ago had been enough for him and there was no way that he would let them interrogate him again. It was a good thing that alcohol had pretty much no effect on his system – since they had tried to make him more talkative with it – and so he had kept all of his secrets to himself. Well, at least most of it anyway. The good thing was though that some nice girls had appeared later on and so their attention had changed from his non-existing love life to the two girls at the bar. Thank God!

Even now he couldn't help but rolling his eyes at their poor attempts to find something out, even though there was actually nothing to find. He was a single man, with no secret girlfriend as they had claimed and so it was pretty hard to find some dirty secrets.

"Boys will be boys," he whispered to himself, though he knew that he was alone in the room. The continuous sound of a gun being fired told him that Calleigh was still busy in the adjoining firing range and it also meant that there soon would be even more bullets waiting to be compared by him and his Bullet Girl.

Well she wasn't his of course, but she definitely was the Bullet Girl of the team, he corrected himself and scribbled down some notes on a piece of paper. For now they hadn't found anything useful, but then again, everything was more useful than sitting alone at home with nothing to do.

With a sigh he straightened himself up from his bended position and rolled his neck to ease the tension that was slowly building there. A loud crack told him that he had done it correctly and the same time that it was probably time for a break. His tired eyes agreed wholeheartedly and so he gave in the temptation to watch Calleigh for a moment.

He had seen so many people with weapons, good and bad ones, but not once in his life he had connected this sight with something sultry, until he'd met Calleigh Duquesne that is. The fact that she was all in black today made it even better, because his opinion still stood – she looked good in all black. Leaning against the glass window, he watched her and the way she precisely hit the bull's eye over and over again. He had never met someone who was so brilliant at shooting, except of himself maybe and that she was a woman made it even more spectacular.

Not that he was the opinion of women being weaker and not good at shooting, but he was quite sure that this wasn't the typical women's sport, so a woman in this position was quite a rare sight. He was glad though that he had found her all these years ago and that he had convinced her to come to Miami with him. He didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if she'd said no to his offer.

He was so deeply in thoughts, that the ring of a cell phone made him jump lightly and cursing him for getting so easily distracted. He quickly reached for his own and was about to open it, when he noticed that it actually wasn't his cell that was ringing. Torn between calling Calleigh, ignoring the ring or taking the call he looked around and saw that Calleigh was still absorbed in her shooting.

In a normal case he wouldn't answer someone else's phone, but when he noticed that it wasn't a familiar number, he decided that it would do no harm. You never knew if it was important after all and he hoped that Calleigh wouldn't be mad at him.

"Caine?" he answered the phone and was quite surprised by person's name on the other side of the line.

"_Oh, I think I misdialed the number. Here's Pamela from McGinty's Tavern. I actually tried to call Calleigh Duquesne, but-"_

"Oh no, no," Horatio interrupted her quickly. "You dialed correctly; it's just that she can't take the call at the moment."

"_Oh okay," _the woman said confused and didn't know what to do.

Horatio sensed that, so he just continued. "Want to leave her a message? I can tell her as soon as she's back again," he offered and wondered why some bartender from a local waterhole would try to call Calleigh.

"_If you'd do that," _the woman said relieved. _"Just tell her that I'm sorry to interrupt her afternoon, but Duke is acting up again and he needs someone to take him home."_

Duke? Wasn't that her father's name? This sounded suspicious and got his full attention. "Okay, I'll tell her. Wanna give me the address?"

"_Believe me when I say, that she won't need it, it's not the first time that…,"_ she started but then stopped abruptly. _"Well anyway, please tell her to come and thank you for taking the message."_

"That's not a problem," Horatio replied and flipped the cell shut after he said goodbye. It wasn't the first time that Calleigh had to go there? So did this mean that Duke was drinking a lot? Maybe even an alcoholic? This thought rocked him to the core, but he couldn't think further about it, since he realized that the firing had stopped and this meant that Calleigh was on her way to him. Carefully he put her cell on the working bench again and did his best to concentrate on the comparison again.

Calleigh was in a very good mood; well she always was when she could spend time in the firing range but today it was even better, because she could work together with her boss. She'd been surprised when he'd entered her refuge a few hours ago, but she certainly hadn't minded at all. Spending time with him had always been a pleasure and it still was, even after his confession about his true nature. To be honest, if she hadn't seen and heard it with her own eyes and ears, she would have never believed that Horatio was a vampire at all. He was still the same as always, but then again…he'd been a vampire since she'd known him, so this didn't mean anything.

Of course she'd been very cautious around him at first, because everything she knew about vampires was from horror movies or books and so it had been no surprise that she'd also been a bit afraid of him. The evening the team had spent together at his house and the fact that Alexx had shown them her trust in Horatio had made it easier for her to adjust to this new situation. Now it was almost like it'd been before his confession and this also meant that her feelings hadn't changed; though she had to admit, that she was now even more cautious if not to show them in any way.

"I'm back again," she announced when she stepped into the room and reached for her white lab coat. "Have you found something?" she asked and walked to him.

With a small smile he stepped away from the microscope and shook his head. "Sadly but no," he replied and watched her. She was smiling, she obviously had a great time and he hated the fact that he would probably destroy this mood. He hated being the bearer of bad news.

"Too bad," she sighed and showed him the other bullets. "Maybe we can find something with these ones here."

"Yeah," he replied and knew that he had to tell her the sooner the better. "Your cell rang while you were in the firing range," he told her without preamble and waited for her reaction to it.

"Yeah?" she asked and reached for the small phone next to her. Noticing that she didn't have a call in absence she looked confused at him.

"I took the call, I hope that's okay. I didn't know if it was important and since I didn't want to interrupt you," he shrugged a bit helplessly, but was stopped by her.

"That's fine, Horatio. Don't worry about it," she smiled reassuringly. "So who was it?"

"Actually," he took a deep breath and fidget with his fingers, "it was Pamela from McGinty's Tavern," he continued and noticed the immediate change in her whole demeanor.

Calleigh just stood there and felt the world crumbling around her. McGinty's Tavern meant only one thing – her dad was drunk again. "No," she said so softly that Horatio wasn't sure if she'd actually said it or if he was imagining things. "No…are you sure? Are you really sure that it was Pamela?" she asked him almost desperately, because this couldn't be true.

Horatio ducked his head and nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so, I'm sorry Cal. She told me that Duke…your father is there and that you need to pick him up." He felt so bad for telling her, but he didn't have any other chance.

"I can't believe it!" she suddenly slammed her hand on the working bench and startled Horatio by doing this. "I can't believe it... not again.. NOT AGAIN!"

"Cal," Horatio tried to calm her and tried to hug her, but Calleigh wouldn't let him.

"Don't Horatio, just don't." Furiously she pulled off her lab coat and slammed it onto the ground. She was furious, hurt, disappointed and incredible sad.

Unsure of what to do, Horatio just watched her. He wanted to reach out, but feared that this would make things even worse. It broke his heart to see her like this. He noticed the turmoil in her, he felt the emotions radiating from her and he also saw the barely hidden tears in her eyes. "Cal," he tried a second time, but was once again stopped by her.

"I need to go, Horatio. I'm sorry," she said and tried to get her emotions under control again. "I hope you don't mind, but I need to get my father home." With that she left the room in one swift motion, leaving her cell, badge and weapon behind.

Horatio, noticing this, made a quick decision and ran after her, catching up with her after a few meters. Thankfully the night shift hadn't arrived yet and so the lab was quiet. "Cal wait, please," he called her and gently took her by the arm.

"What is it, Horatio?" she snarled and just wanted to leave the lab, drive to the Tavern and drag her father out of it.

Horatio just ignored her tone, because he was sure that she wasn't mad at him in particular. "You left this here," he said softly and showed her her belongings. "You might need them, when you… I mean…you never know," he shrugged a bit helplessly.

Looking down at her things in his hands, she took a deep, calming breath. Reaching for them without a word, she placed them at their usual places. "Thank you," she muttered quietly and started to walk again.

Surprised by this, Horatio didn't have any other chance but following her again. "Cal, is everything alright? I mean," he pulled a face when she gave him an incredulous look, "I mean I know you're not alright, but… can I help?" he asked.

"No," she quickly shook her head. She didn't want to pull him into things he didn't deserve to be pulled into, plus it was already embarrassing enough that he had taken the call. "I can do that on my own." She had done that a million times before.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he tried again, because he hated seeing her like this. All he wanted was to lend her a broad shoulder, something to lean on.

"Horatio, I really don't have the time now and-"

"No, I mean after…after you picked him up," he interrupted her calmly. "My door is always open for you, Cal. This goes for my office door, but also for my front door…so to say," he added with a small smile.

"I don't know….I…" she had never talked about this situation before with anyone and it probably wasn't good if she told her boss about her father's drinking habits.

"You don't have to be alone tonight, if you don't want to that is," he explained and rested his hand on her shoulder. Her body was almost vibrating due to all the tension running through her. "We can talk as much or as little about it… whatever you like best. I just don't want you to be alone tonight," he said in earnest. "We could just watch a movie," he shrugged. "I don't mind at all."

To be honest, she didn't want to be alone tonight, because she knew what that meant. It meant nothing more than taking her father home, making sure that he was alright, leaving him afterwards and then drive home to her own apartment. There she would curl up on her couch, fall apart and sometime later going to bed, where she wouldn't find any sleep. But still, as much as she wanted to accept his offer, something prevented her from doing so. He was her boss after all and she didn't know how he would react to it, how _she _would deal with it.

Feeling her hesitation he squeezed her shoulder lightly and smiled at her. "We're friends Cal and I hate to see you hurting like this. It would make me a happy camper if you'd come over or… well I can also come over."

"No!" she quickly said and cringed when she saw his face. "I mean…no, it's better at your place, if that is okay for you."

"Of course it is," he nodded. "I offered it, right?"

"You did, yes," she confirmed. "But now I really have to go before he does...stupid things…," she sighed.

"That's fine, just come over after you got him home; it doesn't matter what time it is," he told her and watched her go. This time he didn't follow her, but waited until she disappeared in the lift. "Well you'd better clean up the lab, Horatio," he talked to himself. "And then you need to get home, maybe with a little detour at the video store and the supermarket." Calleigh wasn't heartbroken by some lover, but she still was heartbroken and as far as he knew, women loved cookies and ice cream then. It was at least worth a try, especially when it came to Calleigh.

It was about three hours later, when the last scenes of Breakfast at Tiffany's were flickering on the television. It wasn't the typical type of movie Horatio would watch on his own, but Calleigh had decided on it after she'd arrived at his house. He had picked out three very different movies at the video store, because he had no idea what she'd like or not and because he'd wanted to play it safe, he had lend them all.

At least it hadn't been Gone with the Wind or something similar, because as far as he knew this was a very romantic and dramatic movie and probably not what Calleigh needed at the moment. And in Breakfast at Tiffany's there was at least a happy ending and Audrey Hepburn was a wonderful actress in his eyes.

To be honest, he hadn't so much concentrated on the movie itself, but on Calleigh. She'd done her best to hide her emotions when he'd opened the door for her, but he could read her like a book. He'd asked her if her father was Okay and the small 'mhm' he'd got in return could have meant anything and nothing. But since he didn't want to force her into anything, he'd decided to leave it alone and to wait for her to approach the subject. He'd told her that they could talk as much or as little about it and now he wanted to keep his promise.

With a sigh, Calleigh leaned forward and put the ice cream bowl onto the couch table when the closing credits appeared on the screen. She was sure that she'd blushed furiously when Horatio had told her that he'd bought some cookies and ice cream, but had nevertheless accepted them gratefully. The fact that he had also eaten some ice cream and nibbled on a cookie had made her smile and wondering if he actually needed to eat or if he'd just done it for her. She hadn't dared to ask him though.

"This was a nice movie," she declared and looked at her companion, who was casually resting with his back in the corner of his soft leather couch. "Thank you for that."

"You're more than welcome, Cal," he smiled at her and turned down the music a bit, so they could talk easily. "I'm glad that my choice of movies was to your satisfaction. Not to forget the choice of ice cream and cookies," he laughed softly.

"Most definitely," she blushed again and leaned against the back of the couch again. "I have to admit that I was and still am surprised about that though," she confessed. Never in her life before, did she have a boyfriend or male friend who'd shown so much careful consideration.

"Well yeah, I thought that you might need some comfort food and ice cream and cookies seemed to be the best choice in my eyes," he shrugged.

"You just forgot the chocolate," she teased him playfully.

"Mhm, okay, I'll think about it next time," he grinned at her and lost the grin when her smile faltered as well.

"I hope there won't be a next time," she said to no one in particular. The bad thing was that she knew that this could and probably would happen again from now on and that she couldn't run to Horatio every time. It was not fair to drag him into her family mess. She was sure that he had enough problems in his own life and he didn't need hers too.

"I'm sorry, Cal," Horatio replied and gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know that, it's just that…I'm sure that it will happen again and this makes me angry and sad the same time."

Horatio just nodded and hoped that she'd elaborate it, but she didn't. So he took matters in his own hands. "Don't you want to talk about it? I'm sure that it'll help to get it off your heart. We're friends Cal and I hate to see my friends hurting."

"I'm not sure if you can look at me the same after I told you, Horatio," she said sadly. Even though it wasn't her fault that her father was an alcoholic it still cast a poor light on her as well.

"Believe me when I say that there's nothing that could make me think less of you," he told her in a serious tone. "Nothing, okay? I've seen so many things in my life, that there's nothing that could shock me." He waited a few moments so the words could sink in and then he continued with his gently probing. "So I take that your dad was drunk tonight and that's why Pamela called you? And the fact that she knew your cell number means that…that it wasn't for the first time?" He was a CSI after all and there wasn't a lot that get unnoticed by him.

Calleigh just looked at her hands and nodded slowly. "Yes and….yes," she said softly and when she didn't hear anything coming from him, she dared to look up. All she saw was the compassion in his eyes and once again she found herself lucky that she agreed to his offer. "My father is…an alcoholic, Horatio. We're not proud of it, but it's just like it is," she told him quietly. "That's the reason why he and my mom are divorced, but then again, my mom also is an alcoholic, just a different one," she huffed and took a deep breath.

"Oh Cal." His heart was breaking at what he saw and he couldn't help but gather her in his arms. "I'm so sorry about that," he whispered and rested his chin on her head.

"It's not your fault, Horatio. It's nobody's except of their own," she said and unconsciously snuggled further into his embrace.

"So when you say that she's different one, what does that mean?" he asked and wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"It means," she started and wasn't sure if she should tell him, but then again, she was also sure that he wouldn't leave the topic alone anyway. "It means that while she gets sleepy when she'd drunk too much and just goes to bed, he wouldn't. He's more the…aggressive drunk, or used to be anyway."

Horatio closed his eyes at that and had pretty good images in his mind, when she talked about aggressive. "You mean he used to hit you?" he asked and did his best to keep his anger in check.

"Me, my brothers, my mother…who ever had dared to mess up something," she answered. "But then again, it was our own fault, because we all knew how he got once he was drunk."

"No Cal, don't you say that. It's not your fault," he answered definitely. He had seen so many victims of abuse and they all thought that it was their fault. The fact that this woman in his arms thought the same, made him incredible sad and mad at her parents. "It's not your fault; it may not even be his, but the alcohols. But it's so not yours, don't even think about it."

"Yeah," she replied unconvinced and rested her head against his chest.

He knew that a few spoken words, wouldn't convince her of her innocence, but he vowed that he'd do his best to convince her some day. Calleigh didn't deserve that; nobody did, but she in particular. Carefully he leaned back into the corner of the couch to make it more comfortable for both of them and let his arms wrapped around her. "So for how long did you have to pick him up? Does it happen often?"

"It started when he moved to Miami, after he and mom got divorced," she sighed. "It always depends on his mood. Sometimes it's only once or twice a week, sometimes it's every day. You never know before… The bad thing is that it also affects his job of course and he doesn't have clients anymore and well this makes him drink even more…"

"A vicious circle," Horatio summed it up and started to run a hand through her golden hair. He rather felt than heard her soft crying and had no idea of how to help her.

"The worst is that he always promises me to stop. He promised me a million times and then he starts drinking again, like his word doesn't mean anything," she sniffed and furiously wiped away the tears. She had cried so much about him and she had promised herself to stop it and yet she was doing it again.

"He'd been dry for two months now and I had hoped that he'd finally made it and then…and then I get a call again," she continued and felt so angry about him. "He'd promised me that he would make it this time, that he'd do anything for me and see what happened. He broke his promise, again and again and again," she talked herself into rage and started to hit Horatio's chest with her fists. "He doesn't care about anyone except of himself and this stupid alcohol."

Horatio just kept quiet and let her hit him. It wasn't that she could actually hurt him anyway and he knew that she needed to let go. She was lost in her sadness and fury and now it depended on him that she'd find her way back again. And he was more than willing to be her lighthouse.

"It so unfair. So unfair Horatio. Why does it have to be me? Why does he always call me? Why is this the only time that he makes me a compliment when he's drunk? Am I not worth enough to get one when he's sober?"

"Of course you are, Calleigh," Horatio insisted. "You're so much more worth than just a compliment here and there. You should be treated like you deserve it. You're a very special woman, you have a heart of gold and it pains me to see that your dad is imposing your kindness." Right now he'd loved nothing better than going to her father and giving him a piece of his mind, but he knew that it wasn't his place to do that. Plus, Calleigh needed him right now and he'd never leave her alone in this state.

These words surprised her. Did he mean them, or did he just tell what he thought she wanted to hear? Carefully she looked at him and tried to read his face. "Do you...do you mean that?"

"Of course I do," he said sincerely and wiped away the last remains of her tears. "You deserve better and even though I can understand that you're trying to help your father, I wish you wouldn't because it's hurting you."

"I'm the only one who's still in contact with him," she admitted and averted her eyes, not wanting him to see how much his words meant to her.

"This is also a reason why he shouldn't treat you like this," Horatio pointed out. "But I don't blame you, rather the opposite. I know that family means a lot to you, so trying to help your dad is very noble from you. I just wish that he would realize it, especially the fact that he's hurting you with his behavior."

"Yeah," she replied a bit unsure and took a calming breath. "He's the best daddy in world when he's not drunk. He'd done so much for me and I feel like I need to repay that…in a way," she tried to explain her behavior.

"It's his duty as a father to do everything for you, Sweetheart. You don't have to repay anything. But as I said, you have a big heart and when someone needs you, you're always willing to reach out. There's nothing wrong with that, you just need to make sure that your help doesn't get misused," Horatio replied and gave her an encouraging smile.

"I guess that's one of my weaknesses," she admitted and once again rested her head against his chest.

"Probably, but it makes you to the person we all know and love," Horatio answered and pressed a kiss on her hair.

Calleigh just relished the feeling of being safe in his arms. Even though she wasn't the type of woman who liked talking about private things, it felt good to do it once in a while, especially with someone who didn't judge her. "Thank you for listening, Horatio," she said softly and felt the turmoil of her emotions was now changing into exhaustion.

"You're more than welcome, Cal. Thank you for trusting me with this and accepting my offer."

"Right now, there's no place on earth I'd rather be," she smiled lightly and did her best to wrap her arms around him.

Carefully, if not to wake the other person in the room, Horatio draw the curtain a bit, so he could look outside. Some time in the night it had started raining and it didn't look like it would stop anytime soon. He didn't mind rain; rain was very important for nature and as long as he could watch it from the dry inside of his home he was okay with it. The sky was cloudy, the sun not able to be seen and so he decided to just close the curtains and slip into bed again.

Slowly he crawled under the covers and huddled up against the other warm body in his bed. Protectively he wrapped his arm around the figure and felt utterly comfortable like this. It had been some time that he'd shared his bed with someone, especially someone like this and so he savored the feeling that came along with it.

"Are you awake?" he whispered softly, in case he'd misheard the change of breathing and started to draw tiny circles on the blanket and the arm underneath.

"Mhmmm," came the quiet reply that made him chuckle.

"Is that a mhmm yes, or a mhmmm no?" he teased.

"Mhmmm both."

"Ah," he raised his brows and watched with interest as his companion became more and more awake. "Did you sleep well?"

"Perfect, I can't remember when I had such a good nights sleep to be honest," she replied and carefully stretched herself. "What about you?"

"I seriously can't complain," he grinned and lifted his arm in case she wanted to turn around, which she didn't.

"You sure know how to give a girl a compliment," she sassed and reached for his arm, so they could stay like this.

"Thank you," he played along. "I do my best." Realizing what she was trying to do, he happily obliged and once again wrapped his arm around her. "I'm glad you stayed Cal," he told her softly.

"Same goes for me," she replied honestly and in fact she was. It had been so nice on the couch with him, feeling safe and secure and she hadn't wanted to give that feeling up. So when he'd offered her to stay with him over the night she had readily agreed. There'd been no way that she'd have left that night and gone to her lonely apartment. That they had shared a bed though had been more or less a coincidence.

Actually the plan had been that she would sleep in his guestroom, but somehow they both hadn't wanted to break the spell between them. And to be honest, she hadn't wanted to sleep alone that night, because she'd known that sleep wouldn't come then.

"Good," he interrupted her inner musings about last night and nuzzled her neck; content about the situation they were in. "Have you heard about the newest rumor?" he asked after a while.

"No, which one?" There were so many rumors going around in the lab, it was like in high school again.

"Mhm, that we're a couple… I mean you and me."

"Oh? And who says that?"

"Speed and Eric," he replied and wondered what he had to expect now.

"I see. Well then it has to be true, right?" she smiled. Especially Eric was like the blackboard of the lab. If there was one rumor spreading around, then he was the first one who'd heard about it. Sometimes it was funny, when it didn't concern you, sometimes it was annoying when it _did_ concern you.

"Yeah, I think so…," he replied uncertainly, because this was definitely not what he'd expected. He'd expected her to laugh about it and saying that this was ridiculous. But this reaction surprised him. What did she mean by that? That she was okay with them being a couple, though they certainly weren't? Or did she find it unbelievable and so this was meant more in a sarcastic way, than an honest one?

"Horatio?" she interrupted his thoughts this time.

"Mhm?"

"I can hear the wheels turning in your mind, what are you thinking about?"

"Do you have some super powers, like super hearing?" he asked amused and tried to distract her.

"No," she replied softly and turned around on her other side to look at him. "But I have good instincts. So what are you thinking about?"

"Hmm," he started eloquently and watched his hand drawing circles on the blanket. "I just wondered how you mean what you said about Eric and Speed."

It took her a moment to follow him, but then it dawned her. "You mean that they're right about us being a couple?"

"Yeah," he nodded slowly. "Because we both know that we aren't and I tried to tell them that night in the club, but I'm not sure if they believed me."

"The club?" she asked intrigued.

"Yeah we met by accident in a club, Silent Sinners, you know the club where our serial killer is looking for victims. I was there in hope to catch him and the boys were out for clubbing. Eric had been a bit.. mhm.. tipsy I'd say and he started to ask me about my girlfriend."

"Which means me in other words," she summed it up.

"Actually no," he chuckled. "Mr. CSI thought I'm with Paula and no, don't ask me what led him to this highly interesting theory."

"You and Paula?" Calleigh laughed. "Now that's really interesting, I think I have to ask him about that," she said, but then came back to business again. "So when did he put me into the picture?"

"Oh well, Speed and Eric had a discussion about why there's no way I'm with Paula, respectively why I am and suddenly Eric asked Speed if he believes that I'm with you and you can imagine what happened then," he rolled his eyes.

"Interesting," she mused.

"Yeah very," Horatio snorted. "Then they tried to get me sloshed, which thankfully didn't work and then two girls appeared who suddenly had their full attention."

"Typical," she commented and could only wonder about the boys.

"Yeah, but this time it was to my luck, so I didn't mind at all. But I'm sure they still believe that they're right when it comes to us though."

"So is this a good or a bad thing?" she asked him.

Now he had to act carefully. Slowly he rolled onto his back and tried to stall time. "What do _you_ think?" he asked cross his arms underneath his head.

Calleigh pushed herself up on her elbow and eyed him carefully. Then she started to grin and said cheekily, "What I think? Well _I_ think that I asked you first, Mr. Caine."

Horatio just rolled his eyes and groaned inwardly. "Well it's not me who's supposed to be involved with a…well yeah with a vampire and my boss, so…," he shrugged. "But," he continued when she started to poke his chest, "I don't think that it's… a bad thing, you know?"

Calleigh nodded contentedly. "Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah, good. I don't think it's a bad thing either."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," she giggled and rested her head on his chest.

"O-okay," he replied somehow unsure and played with her hair. "So what does that mean then?"

"It means, that I wouldn't mind being with you," she said and then lifted her head to look at him. "To be honest I had hoped for that for a long time now."

Horatio couldn't help but being surprised by that. "I didn't know that..," he said and then shook his head like if he wanted to clear his mind. "I think I like that idea," he smiled, leaned a bit upwards and gave her a kiss. "Mhm, I think I like that a lot," he whispered after they broke the kiss and licked his lips.

Calleigh couldn't agree more so she just gave him one of her mega watt smiles and rested her head on his chest again. "You know," she said after a while, "this is somehow weird."

"What is?" he asked confused. "Us being together?"

"No," she quickly replied. "The fact that your heart isn't beating. I already noticed that yesterday evening and it's…well I'm definitely not used to that."

"I bet," he chuckled softly. "But there's no way that I can change it, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I didn't say that it's a bad thing, it's just uncommon."

"Okay," he surrendered and wrapped his arms around her. "So what are your plans for today?"

"Well I didn't have any, but spending time with my new boyfriend sounds pretty good to me," she joked and if she could have it her way, she would stay in bed the whole day.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind a bit," he chuckled. "What about heading to a park once it stops raining. The heat should have cooled down by then."

"This sounds very good. But for now, it's much too comfortable here," she sighed and adjusted her 'Horatio-pillow' so she'd be even more comfortable.

Horatio just grinned down at her. "Comfy?"

"Oh…very much so."

"Then I'm happy," he laughed and closed his eyes again. Asking her to come with him yesterday had been the best decision for a long, long time.

_**Tbc?**_


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait for an update. Private life got downhill for a while and I wasn't entirely sure if people wanted to continue reading this particular story. Anyway, since I got wonderful and encouraging reviews today, I thought I'd post a new chapter. Have fun and enjoy.**

**Chapter 8**

Four days later, Horatio and Calleigh were sitting alone in the lab's break room and were enjoying a good cup of coffee. The whole morning had been quiet and while the boys had gotten lost somewhere in the lab, the couple had decided to meet in the break room.

Now, Calleigh was busy reading one of her lifestyle magazines or as Horatio called it "gossip-magazines" and nibbled with relish on one of her self-made chocolate cookies. She had offered Horatio to eat some as well and he had taken one, but after that he had declined another one. He was "happy with his coffee" he had said and with a shrug, Calleigh had accepted it. This only meant that there was more for her anyway.

Horatio meanwhile, was trying to read a newspaper article, but it got harder and harder. Every time he heard her biting of a piece of a cookie or even worse a small moan of approval, his appetite for another cookie got bigger and now he was annoyed by himself, because he had told her that one was enough. Why had he done that anyway? He didn't want her to believe that he was greedy and in fact he didn't need such food at all, but the cookies were really delicious and now he needed to get out of this predicament.

With a side glance he eyed Calleigh and carefully leaned forward as if he would reach for his coffee, but instead he quickly grabbed a smaller cookie and stuffed it into his mouth. Boy, did they taste good. With a quiet hum, he sat back again and chewed as inconspicuous as possible. He unfolded his newspaper again and tried to hide behind it.

Calleigh of course, had seen everything and could only wonder about his behavior. If he liked the cookies, then she would share them with him. _"Men…"_ she thought to herself and with a grin she grabbed the box and placed it next to her on the sofa. _"Let's see if he does it again…"_

Horatio, who hadn't noticed her actions, carefully peeked around his newspaper and noticed with a smile that Calleigh seemed to be absorbed in her magazine. _"Good,"_ he thought to himself and quickly reached for the box again but felt nothing but air. _"What the..?"_ he furrowed his brows and looked to the now empty space where the box had been just seconds before. _"Hmm…"_ he pulled a face and then saw out of the corner of his eye that Cal was eating another cookie. Turning his head slightly, he noticed the object of his desire. Now he just needed a good moment to steal another cookie again.

Calleigh bit back a smile when she saw how he casually let his hand rest in the near of the box and how he slowly made his way to the treasure. The moment he grabbed a cookie, she grabbed his hand so he couldn't get away. "Drop it!"

Horatio just winced and did as he was told.

"Mhm, it seems to me that I caught you in the act, didn't I, Handsome?" she drawled and smiled at him.

"It wasn't for me," Horatio did his best impression of a puppy dog face. "I actually wanted to…uhm feed you with it," he added and gave her his best smile.

"Sure," she nodded, not believing a single word. "I rather think that you wanted it for yourself… Cookie-thief."

Horatio knew that he was caught, so he just looked down and sighed. "Guilty as charged, Detective," he admitted in defeat. "Do you think you could share them with me?" he looked up again and tilted his head while doing so.

"Oh I don't know, as far as I know you're happy with your coffee so," she started but got interrupted by Frank.

"Sorry to interrupt your two lovebirds, but we have a case," he stuck his head in at the door. "I already told the others, the address is Collins Avenue, Lincoln Road. Two victims, I'll see you there."

Horatio just nodded and waited until Frank left again, before he looked at Calleigh again. "Well I guess we need to postpone my punishment," he joked.

Calleigh didn't feel like joking though at this very moment. Frank had called them lovebirds, so did that mean that he knew about their relationship? "Does he know about us?"

"Who? Frank? No, he doesn't." No one knew about their relationship for now. "He just assumes, but then again, he had already assumed it months ago, so don't think about it Cal," he reassured her. "And don't worry about it, he'd be more than okay with it anyway."

"Okay," she nodded slowly. It wasn't that she was embarrassed about being with him, but she wasn't sure how the others would react about it.

"So let's get going, before Frank gets ideas," Horatio laughed and quickly stole another cookie. At her glare he just shrugged. "Provisions for the journey."

"You're incorrigible," Cal rolled her eyes and quickly followed him.

When they arrived at the crime scene about twenty minutes later, police officers had already secured the scene and did their best to keep the bystanders at bay. Without rushing, Horatio parked the Hummer and stopped the engine. Through the windshield he observed the area and let his eyes roam over the houses and people around. It was a typical normal neighborhood with, what he assumed, rather young families or pensioners who wanted nothing more than to have a quiet life. And this meant nothing more than this case would be gruesome. Of course, every crime was gruesome in his eyes, but there were still differences.

"It looks utterly similar to our case where the father had murdered his whole family, doesn't it?" Calleigh interrupted his inner musings and sighed. She only hoped that there was no child involved. These cases were always the hardest.

"True," he acknowledged and motioned her to leave the car. "Let's hope its no repeating."

"Yeah," she agreed and graciously slipped out of the Hummer, walking around the car to the rear door where Horatio was already waiting for her. "There's Frank," she pointed towards the big Texan when she grabbed for her silver case and made herself ready for whatever horrible scene would be waiting for them.

"Well, let's see what he has to tell us," Horatio commented and together they walked up to him. "Frank, what do you have for us?"

"Two victims, elderly people," Frank was quick to reply. "Alexx has only arrived a few minutes before so don't ask me about the COD," he shrugged in his typical way. Doctors always had the vein to talk to him in their foreign language and he hated that. Though he had to admit that Alexx wasn't one of them.

"Okay, any witnesses or signs for burglary?" Horatio asked and wrote his signature on the log book.

"Positive, I just wanted to talk to the witnesses and the rest of your team is already in the house," Frank answered. "I'll tell you in case I find something."

"You do that, Frank. Thank you," Horatio nodded and looked at Calleigh. "You ready?"

"Just lead the way, Horatio," she smiled up at him and, just like he, did her best to remain absolutely professional. There was no reason to float around their relationship, especially not at a crime scene where they had more important things to do anyway.

Inside the house, they quickly found the rest of the team including Alexx in the living room. Immediately Horatio picked up the smell of blood and inwardly pulled a face when he saw the two victims. "It wasn't our serial killer, was it?" he asked into the room.

"No Honey, it wasn't. But this one isn't better," Alexx answered the question and waited for the temperature results.

"Well at least these two didn't go without a fight," Speed commented and carefully picked up a hair with tweezers. "If this hair doesn't belong to our victims, we have our first lead," he concluded.

"Let's hope so," Horatio nodded. "Do you already have the cause of death, Alexx?"

"Yes, they were both stabbed in their stomachs and bled out," she shook her head. "That's also a reason why I'm sure that it wasn't our guy."

"Doesn't make it better, does it?" Horatio asked rather rhetorically and looked at Eric. "Eric, go to the kitchen and have a look at the knives. Maybe we're lucky and the perp used one from here." It had happened so often that a burglary gone wrong ended in a murder and often the murder weapon had belonged to the victim. "Calleigh and I will search the second floor to see if something's missing."

"Got it, H," the Cuban quickly nodded and made his way to the kitchen.

"Just holler when you found something interesting," Horatio told the others and followed Calleigh upstairs. "You take the left side, me the right?"

"Sounds perfect," she nodded and opened the first door.

Horatio did the same and entered the bathroom. Nothing seemed out of order here and a quick view into the several cabinets told him that it didn't seem like someone had rummaged through them. And since Alexx had told them that the victims had been stabbed, he highly doubted that this had happened with a razor blade. So he decided to leave the bath and enter the room next door.

"Jackpot," he smiled when he found himself in the master bedroom. Grabbing his flashlight and turning it on, he began to 'comb' the room thoroughly. He couldn't tell how long he'd done that until he finally reached the bed drawer; what he found there surprised him though. Very carefully he grabbed the framed photo of two people who were smiling into the camera.

"Hmm, interesting," he mumbled to himself, because these two people couldn't be older than 35 and this certainly didn't match to the two victims they'd found in the living room. "This doesn't make any sense," he said and quickly put the photo back to where he'd found it and made his way to the big wardrobe. Opening it and having a closer look at the clothes inside, his suspicions that something was seriously wrong here got affirmed.

He knew that some elderly people were still up to date with their clothes, but he seriously doubted that the woman would wear a string bikini and that the man would wear that kind of T-Shirts and jeans. This was most definitely the wardrobe of young people. So who were the two victims and what were they doing here? Or..weren't they the victims?

"Horatio?" Calleigh called from the door to get his attention. "There's something you need to have a look at."

"What is it, Cal?" he asked intrigued and walked up to her.

"Just follow me," she said and was sure he would do so. "The first room I examined seemed to be the guest bedroom," she told him while they were walking down the corridor. "It's the second room that has my interest." With that she smoothly opened the door and let him take the lead.

Curiously, Horatio stepped into the room and stood in the middle of a typical girly room. Pink wallpapers, Barbie dolls were lying all around and the bed was crowded with stuffed animals. On the wall, next to the bed, a name was written down in huge letters. "Molly," Horatio read it out loud and turned to Calleigh. "A child's room?"

Calleigh just nodded and looked at him. "This doesn't make any sense."

"Mhm," Horatio mused and let his eyes rest on the small bed. "It's unmade. Funny, the master bedroom's bed was made," said and furrowed his brows. "The only thing that doesn't make any sense in here, are the victims."

"Why?" Calleigh asked intrigued.

"Because here.. we have a child's room and across the hallway, we have a master bedroom of mid-thirties," he pointed out. "Child," he waved his hand, "and parents," he pointed a finger behind him.

"So…what you're saying is, that our victims don't belong in here? They haven't lived here? But if they didn't, then where's the family?" she asked and could see where his theory came from.

"That Cal.. that is what we're going to find out."

Downstairs, Delko made his way back to the living room and had a huge smile on his face. "Look at what I've found," he said and held up a plastic back with a butcher's knife. "Do you think this could be our murder weapon, Alexx?"

Looking up from her work, Alexx eyed the knife carefully. "It could be, yes. But I can't say for sure until I've done the autopsy."

"Alexx, what would you say about the victims ages?" Horatio interrupted them and entered the room with Calleigh.

"Uhm, I'd say early sixties, maybe late fifties. Why?"

"And when was the time of death?" he asked and didn't react to her question.

"Time of Death was.. I'd say approximately midnight. And again I ask why?"

Looking at Calleigh, Horatio lifted an eyebrow before he finally answered Alexx' question. "Well the thing is, that upstairs we have a made master bedroom, a made guest bedroom but an unmade child's room."

"I seriously doubt that our victims were parents of a young child," Alexx interjected.

"Right and that's the question. If they," he pointed at the victims, "aren't our homeowners, which they obviously aren',t then what are they doing here and where's our family?"

"I think I can answer that," Speed said and walked to the fireplace. "I've already wondered who those people are," he said and grabbed a photo and handed it to Horatio. "Well at least we can answer who our victims are," he shrugged.

Looking at the picture, Horatio knew what Speed meant. "Grandparents," he whispered to himself and took a deep breath. "Assuming that…these are our grandparents," he turned to the group which was listening carefully, "and we have an unmade child's room…and no parents in sight…."

"This could probably mean that the grandparents have been babysitting the child," Speed continued the thought.

"And someone thought the house would be empty…," Eric continued and looked at Calleigh.

"The perp has probably surprised the grandparents and killed them. A typical burglary gone wrong…"

Horatio just nodded. "But where… is our child?" he asked no one in particular and immediately had a bad feeling about it.

A pointed silence hung between them, everyone being in their own thoughts.

"Horatio, I don't know if this will help you, but.. there's so much blood here.. the perp.. must have been bloody too. His cloths must be.. full of blood," Alexx broke the silence.

Horatio nodded in understanding. "I'll see what Frank can tell us and you're going to comb this house," he then said and swiftly made his way outside, leaving a stunned and worried team behind him.

"Frank," he called the detective from a few meters away, where he was busy talking to a man.

"Horatio," Frank acknowledged and wrote down some notes.

"We have a problem Frank. Do you know the name of the house owners?"

"Why do you-" Frank started but was interrupted by this small guy next to him.

"Oh that's easy," the man said. "It's Kevin and Judy Bolt's house."

Turning his attention to the guy, Horatio raised his eyebrows.

"Oh sorry, I'm Jack Miller. I live in the neighborhood," the man smiled and tried to put on a nonchalant front.

A front Horatio didn't buy. "I see," he nodded and couldn't help but feel the nervous vibes, coming from him. Of course, most people were nervous while talking to the police, especially when a murder had happened, but this was another type of nervousness, he just couldn't put a finger on it. "So since you're a neighbor, do you know where the Bolts are?"

"Sure I do", he nodded. Before he continued he put his hands in his pockets, trying to act normal. "They are on vacation. Somewhere up north, I'm not sure where exactly, but I've heard they wanted to visit the Grandparents." He remained silent, waited for more questions, since he wanted to help as much as possible.

Horatio just nodded and wanted to go into it, when a teenage boy interrupted him unintentionally.

"That's not true," the boy shook his head. "The Bolts aren't on vacation. They attend some conference in Chicago. And while that, the grandparents look out for their daughter, Molly."

"And you are?" Frank asked and had a hard time to write down all the different facts on his notebook, especially since he hadn't heard about a child, a probably missing child, at all.

"I'm Brian Connor. I'm the paper boy here," he stated and grinned at the two police men.

"Interesting," Horatio murmured and looked at Miller again. This was suspicious. "Vacation, hm?"

"Yeah", he replied even though he told himself to be more carefully. "That's what they said to me. Maybe...they are visiting the Grandparents and then attend the conference?" he suggested. While he was talking, he unconsciously shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Without the grandchild?" Frank asked incredulously. "I bet they'd like that a lot."

Horatio bit back a smile and turned his attention to the boy again. "Thank you Brian. Why don't you go to this officer there and tell him again what you told us?" he asked him and pointed to an officer a few meters away.

"Okay, Sir," the boy nodded and got a bit more serious again. "Are the Bolts alright? I mean Molly and her grandparents?"

"That's what we're trying to find out, son", Horatio replied and gave him a small reassuring smile.

"Okay, good. I like them a lot, they always give me a good tip", he smirked and then walked to the other officer.

Horatio just shook his head at that and cleared his throat. "So Mr. Miller, where have you been last night?"

Jack's eyes went wide. "W-what do you mean? I was...at home," he stuttered because he had a feeling that something was going wrong. "Just like every evening. Why...are you asking me that?"

"That's the normal procedure", Frank just shrugged. "Do you have witnesses for that?"

"My pal Nick was with me," he said, avoiding eye contact with Horatio. His senses told him that this man meant danger. "You can ask him." He wanted to show confidence, but the slight tremor in his voice gave him away. Suddenly, he looked at his watch. "Are you finished? I have an appointment, you know?"

They were nowhere but finished. Not when the man acted like this. Horatio gave Frank a quick glance and after all those years together, the Texan knew what was going on.

"Does that Nick have a last name?" Frank asked in his typical tone and ignored the man's questions. "And maybe even a telephone number?"

Horatio just stayed silent, while Frank fired his questions and watched Miller's gestures. There was something going on, he just knew it. Unnoticed by the others, he took a deep breath and stopped dead in his tracks. He knew that smell all too well. Furrowing his brows, he eyed Miller and took a few steps back. Inhaling again, he tilted his head and walked the few steps back again. The closer he got to the man, the stronger the smell became. "Did you cut your finger today? Or something similar?" he asked out of nowhere.

"Why do you want to know THAT?" Jack deadpanned. "Listen," he tried again. "I really want to help, but there's nothing more I can tell you. Oh, and the name's Carter, okay? 555-8384-881." He desperately needed to get in touch with his buddy and tried to end this conversation. "I really need to go."

"Well yeah, but you need to stay here until we called your friend so he can confirm your alibi," Frank told him seriously and looked at his friend, who looked a bit odd. "You'll wait here and this nice officer is having an eye on you," he smirked and waved at one of his colleagues, "while I make the call."

Horatio didn't believe Miller at all. His instincts had never betrayed him and the smell was so obvious, there was no other way. "Frank? You got a minute?"

Frank raised an eyebrow, but decided to play along. "Sure," he nodded and followed Horatio who walked a few steps to the side. "What's up?"

"You don't have to call this friend, it's a lie," Horatio started and positioned himself in such a way, so he could easily watch Miller without being too obvious. "First he lies about the whereabouts of the family and then he lied about this friend. He's acting too nervous to be a normal concerned neighbour. It's either he knows something about the murder, or he's our perp." Not to forget the lie about the non-existing cut. If there was no cut, then there had to be blood on his clothes, there was no other way. And if there was blood on his clothes, then there was the question why.

"You sure about that?" Frank asked with his broad Texan accent, although he never doubted Horatio's skills. But still he had to work the protocol. "And now? If we push Miller too far, he might ask for an attorney." And that meant they had no chance to gather more facts. On the other hand they couldn't let him go either. "Any ideas?"

"Actually I don't Frank," he sighed, because he knew all too well that Frank was right about pushing Miller too far. "We need to get it out of him by accident. And yes, I know that he lied to me. I just know it." Biting his lip, he tried to make up a plan. "We could tell him that we didn't reach his friend, so he feels safe", he suggested.

"And then?" Frank asked and wondered where this was going.

"Oh, we just have to make him believe that we don't suspect him," Horatio grinned and made his way back to Miller.

There was a big question mark blinking over Frank's head. "Darn Redheads and their secretiveness," he mumbled to himself and followed his colleague a few moments later.

Miller didn't even dare to ask, if they'd reached Nick or not, because he was sure that if they did, he wouldn't like the outcome.

"Thank you Officer," Horatio dismissed the younger man and just eyed Miller who looked like a bundle of nerves.

"Well we didn't reach your friend, so for now you're allowed to leave, Mr. Miller," Frank said and waited for a reaction.

And the reaction followed immediately. Miller's formerly dropped shoulders straightened up instantly and a smile appeared on his face. "Oh that's good, because I really need to-"

"I have one question though," Horatio silenced him. "Have you ever been in the Bolts' house?"

"I.. uhm..of course I've been there," Miller stuttered. "I'm their neighbour."

"Good," Horatio nodded. "Then I need you to come with me for a bit, so I can take your fingerprints."

Frank did his very best to hide his smirk, because he knew exactly what the fingerprints were needed for.

In contrast to Miller of course, who was suddenly quite white in his face. "W-why?"

Horatio put on his best polite smile and gestured Miller to follow him to the Hummer. "To rule you out. You know, we'll search for fingerprints in the house and if we find some, then we can compare them to yours."

"Oh…okay," this sounded pretty good. "I set up the whole entertainment system a few days back," he explained and followed Horatio.

"Really? That's great. I always need to call some expert for that," Horatio continued the small talk.

"Well I am the expert," Jack stated proudly and stopped at the backdoor of the huge vehicle.

"Lucky you, I confused two plugs once and all I heard was a loud bang when I turned on the speakers. Since that day, I always call someone, so I can blame him," Horatio chuckled and got out the mobile fingerprint scan, which was linked with the small computer in the Hummer, so he could send the prints directly to the lab. "Could you hold that for me, Frank?"

"Sure thing, H", the Texan nodded.

"Just put your hands on it, please," Horatio instructed Miller and turned the computer's monitor into his direction, so no one else could have a look at it.

"Oh, no black ink?" Jack asked curiously.

"Nope, we're quite modern here," Horatio shook his head and typed in his password to get access to AFIS. After a few seconds, the computer made some beeping noises and the search came back with a positive match, which confirmed Horatio's suspicion.

"What was that?" Jack asked worried.

"Nothing. That was the sign that you can take your hand off now," Frank answered the question and handed the gadget back to Horatio, who carefully tilted his head towards the monitor. Getting the hint, Frank did the same and made a step to the side, so he and Horatio could switch places. _"Now that's a nice match," _Frank thought to himself. _"Jack Miller, accused of burglary when he was 18. And accused of child abuse, but wasn't found guilty due to lack of evidence. What a coincidence Mr. Miller," _he smirked to himself.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Miller. It means a lot to us," Horatio said and gave the man a small smile.

"Well, I'm glad I could help you. Can I go now?" Jack replied and couldn't help but think that he was one of a lucky guy.

"Of course you can," Horatio nodded and reached into his inside pocket. "If anything comes into your mind about last night, no matter how small or how unimportant it may seem to you, don't hesitate to call. Every hint could lead to the one who did that."

Accepting the card, Miller shoved it into his back pocket. "Will do; and you can call me if you want to set up a new entertainment system," he grinned, turned around and walked away; leaving the two police men alone.

"So we just let him go?" Frank inquired.

"Nothing else we can do, Frank. Just because he's in the system, doesn't mean he has something to do with this crime," Horatio sighed and turned to his friend.

"But you don't believe him," Frank stated. "You're sure he's the one we're looking for."

"That I am, Frank. But we have nothing that indicates that he murdered the grandparents and abducted the child."

"What child are you talking about anyway? There were only two victims, weren't there?"

"There are two dead victims in the living-room, yes. But we also have a child's room in the house, with an unmade bed which tells me that we have a lost child. Plus, the paperboy told us about the child and that the parents are attending a conference at the moment, so… I wonder where the girl is."

"Hmm," Frank sighed and shook his head inwardly. Cases involving children were always hard, especially when the police was too late. "So I'd better make a phone call to inform the Bolts about their missing child and the other crime."

"I don't think that we have any other option here, Frank." Though Horatio had to admit that informing them via telephone wasn't the nicest of all possible ways. It was hard enough to tell people from face to face, but calling them? This was even harder.

"Maybe they have some ideas who could do something like that..," Frank suggested, but honestly didn't believe that for a second.

"Maybe they do Frank, maybe they do," Horatio murmured to himself and turned his head towards the departing Mr. Miller. Suddenly, something caught his eyes. "Frank," he said and pointed towards the man, who was just about to leave the cordoned off area. "Frank, have a look at his shoes."

Confused, Frank followed his gaze. "Shoe—damn," he swore, when he realized what Horatio was getting at. "There's blood on his soles."

"Right," Horatio just snarled and quickly began to move. "Mr. Miller!" he shouted and sprinted after him, his eyes glued on the man's shoes. "Stay where you are!"

Miller just turned around, noticed the look on Horatio's face and did the only thing he could think of – run.

"Damn it," Horatio cursed and shouted at one of the other police officers, who looked rather surprised and confused at him. "Get him!" Sometimes he really had to wonder, if the guys were actually thinking at all.

"Yes, Sir," the man quickly replied and only seconds later, he and another colleague were chasing the fleeing man. It was a pretty good thing that Miller didn't seem to have a lot of endurance, because after a couple of meters, they tackled him down with a typical police move and cuffed his hands.

"Let me go," Miller cried out and tried his best to get out of their hard grip, but didn't stand a chance. "I didn't do anything."

"You sure about that? Then why are you running?" Horatio asked sarcastically when he stopped at the small group and crouched down next to Miller's shoes. "You know," he started and reached for one of the cotton swabs he always carried along with him. "Next time, you run through blood, you should better change your shoes," he continued and run the swab over the red liquid. "Or at least don't wear a pair with white soles." With that he stood up and sealed the evidence.

"Lift him up," he ordered and waited until Miller was looking at him. "Jack Miller, you're under suspicion of murder and kidnapping. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used again you in a court of law…" he told him and continued the Miranda warning, until he nodded at the police officers, who pushed Miller towards one of the police cars.

"So we got him?" Frank asked with a small smile.

"That's what the DNA evidence will be telling us in the lab," Horatio replied and walked towards the house, to inform his team about the news. "Oh and Frank?" he turned his head, but continued walking.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you throw him into cell 7, hm? You know.. the one with the nice guys?"

"This sounds like a perfect idea to me," Frank just grinned. Cell number seven was known as the cell where all the tough guys were waiting for either an interview or being transferred to jail. Miller would have some fun in there. "I think I make a call then."

"And I think that you should do that;" Horatio winked and entered the house. So his senses had indeed been right. He had smelled the blood underneath Miller's shoes, he just hadn't been able to see it. Thank God that this guy didn't seem to be so smart. Now they just had to hope that Molly was still alive and that Miller would tell them where she was. Because if she wasn't alive any longer, Horatio had no idea if he could stay calm and not rip Miller's head off.

**Tbc? Leave a review^^**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: I know it's been a while since I updated, but to be frank, I didn't see a reason for doing so. I got quite a lot of mails concerning story alerts, which is really nice, but no reviews at all and this caused me to ask myself why people seem to like the story but won't review at all. **

**I'm going to update this story today because a few days ago, I got anonymous reviews by "dollydarwloo" who asked me to update the story. Thank you for your reviews by the way.**

**Enjoy..**

**Chapter 9**

Time was passing by painfully slow and Frank hated it. With every minute that they were sitting here inactively, his mood became worse and a quick side glance told him, that Horatio was feeling the same. They'd been sitting here for over an hour already, hoping to find something out useful from Jack Miller, but to no avail. Except of his personal data and similar things, they had found out nothing.

The fact that Miller had asked for his attorney hadn't surprised them at all, but waiting for the person had cost them precious time in finding the little girl. And this was the main thing that was straining Frank's nerves, since he knew only too well that with every minute that passed by, the chances to find the girl alive got smaller.

Sadly, it didn't look like there would be a chance in the near future, since the attorney had advised his client to refuse to give evidence. Only due to their long lasting experience they had found a bit more that the attorney had wanted to by asking tricky questions, but most of the time he had stopped Miller from saying something stupid; much to Frank's and Horatio's dismay.

Hoping to stay calm, Frank tapped with his fingers on the table top. Sitting around and doing nothing was definitely not his thing.

Horatio's apparently calm act was starting to crumble more and more. His suspicion that time was working against them was confirmed by Frank's tapping, but his hands were tied. As long as Miller wouldn't make a mistake in telling something to incriminate himself, there was nothing they could do.

Horatio had racked his brain over and over again to find something that would help them, but it seemed like lady luck wasn't on his side today. Morose, he folded his hands together, eyed Miller and hoped to get him to talk with his glare.

A couple of minutes went by awfully slow and Horatio had to keep himself together or he would raise his voice and shout at Miller to make him talk and tell them about the girl. "Mr. Miller..," he started again in hope to break through to the man, his voice calm and his chosen words polite as always. "Think about the consequences of your acting. Doing nothing won't help you. Quite the opposite. It can and will be used to your disadvantage."

He would have loved to stand up grabbing the guy and showing him that he didn't like to be played with, but this would have been wrong and against the law. It was seriously tempting though. Sighing, he leaned back and hoped for a wonder. And there it was.

Valera had done her very best to analyze the blood evidence as quickly as possible and was now running through the halls in direction of the interrogation room. Stopping there, she took a moment to compose herself and knocked on the glass door.

The heads of all four men in the room turned towards the noise and Horatio sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening. _"__Dear__God,__let__her__have__good__news.__"_

"Horatio?" Valera opened the door slowly and immediately felt the tension in the room. "Do you have a minute?"

"Of course," he readily replied and stood up. "Excuse me," he said politely and got a nod from the attorney in return.

"I guess it's time for us to leave as well, if you don't have anything more against my client other than the pointless questions and theories we've heard for the last hour."

Frank eyed the attorney, Troy McClure, and shot him a death glare. Oh how he hated these smoothies. "I'm sure your client can wait another minute until the Lieutenant is back again," he snorted and took a sip of his water.

McClure shot him a glare in response and rolled his eyes. "A minute, nothing more."

Outside the room, Horatio and Valera had made a few steps to the side, so the others couldn't see them. "Valera, please tell me that these are the blood results of our latest crime scene."

Smiling, she held out the paper for him. "They are, Horatio and I'm sure that you'll like what you see."

Crocking an eyebrow at her, he reached for the file and let his eyes wander over the results of the comparison between the two victims, Mr. and Mrs. Fitch and the blood they'd found on Miller's shoes. "Are those accurate?"

Nodding, she rocked her heels back and forth. "Absolutely. Angela and I did the analysis the same time and she had the same results." Noticing his look, she gave him another shy smile. "We knew that you needed to be 100% sure, so we decided to make two analyses."

For the first time this day, there was something like a smirk on his face. "You know me too well," he said and folded the file up. "Thank you both for your hard work, this here will help us immensely."

"You're more than welcome," she replied proudly of his praise. "Get the guy."

"We will Maxine, we will," he nodded and rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment while walking past her. Now they had hard evidence against Jack Miller and there was no way that he would let him slip through his fingers.

When he entered the interrogation room again, the attorney stood up and nodded at him. "Ah Lieutenant, as I already told Det. Tripp, it's time for us to go now. It was really nice sitting here in an air conditioned-room and drinking your fine water, but we have other things to do." Looking at his client, he nodded and motioned him to get up as well. "Mr. Miller…"

"Not so fast, Mr. McClure," Horatio replied coldly and pointed to their seats. "Please sit down."

"No we won't, Lieutenant. We've had enough of this farce and the only thing you do is stealing my client's time. There's nothing to talk about and that's why we're leaving now."

"And again I ask you to sit down," Horatio replied sternly and walked to his own seat, but didn't sit down. "If your client won't talk, we will. And believe me, I don't need him to talk at all, because the evidence speaks for itself." With that, he opened the case file and took out a photo from the crime scene with the two bloody bodies on it.

"That's disgusting," Jack pulled a face.

"It is, isn't it?" Horatio raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Ever seen that before?" Horatio ignored his question.

"Of course not," he exclaimed. "I already told you that I have nothing to do with the murder and that my finger prints had been in the house because I helped with the entertainment system."

"Sure you don't," Horatio couldn't help but snort and grabbed another piece of paper. "Then please explain me why we found Mr. and Mrs. Fitch's blood on the sole of your shoes."

Frank couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction. Now it was time to play by their rules and he loved it.

For a moment, Miller's eyes went wide, but he quickly composed himself and leaned back, though it was obvious that he was nervous. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Frank asked sarcastically and raised his eyebrows.

"Well then I'll explain it to you," Horatio interfered and took out the papers with the results of the blood comparisons. Slowly he laid them out in front of Miller and his attorney. "Do you see those? Those are the DNA analyses of Mr. and Mrs Fitch, our victims. And here," he pointed at the other blood sample, "here we have the analysis of the blood we found on the soles of your shoes. And in case you forgot what shoes I'm talking about," he smirked and showed him a picture of them, "here they are."

McClure took a quick look at the results and knew that this was going to be a tough case. He'd been an attorney for quite some time now and this looked very bad for his client and therefore for his white vest. "So if you have this evidence against my client, then why are we sitting here?"

"Because this is not only about the Fitch's, right Mr. Miller? It's about something or should I rather say _someone_else?"

Confused, McClure looked between Horatio and his client. "What are they talking about, Jack?"

Miller just snorted and put up a rather weak self-assured appearance. "I won't say anything."

"Well it's our pleasure to fill in your attorney, Mr. Miller," Frank said with a smile. "This whole tragedy just happened because they got in your way, huh? Because they fought for their most precious gift – their granddaughter. What happened Miller? Did you think that everyone was already asleep? That you could easily walk into the house and steal her away? And when you entered the house, they were still awake, weren't they? Sitting in the living-room, watching TV or doing something else?"

"And they noticed you, didn't they? Asked you what you were doing in the house?" Horatio chimed in. "But having no excuse for your behaviour, you panicked and it went downhill from then on. You killed them and afterwards kidnapped your goal – Molly."

"Molly?" McClure asked and had no idea what he had gotten into.

"Yes; Molly Bolt. Her parents are out of town, that's why her grandparents had baby sit her. And now she's vanished. And that's what makes me asking you Mr. Miller, where is she?"

"Whoa, hold your horses! Who says that this Molly isn't with her parents at the moment?"

"Because Mr. McClure, we've talked to the parents just before you arrived here and they assured us, that Molly had stayed at home with her grandparents."

"Plus," Horatio added, "her bed was unmade when we investigated the crime scene. Just like someone had slept in it only a few hours before, but didn't have the time to make it."

McClure just sighed and nodded. This was getting more and more confusing. "Can I have a minute alone with my client?" He needed to find out what he was dealing with. A murder? Or a murder and a kidnapping? Homicide? This case was bigger than he had thought at the beginning.

Horatio and Frank shared a look. Normally they wouldn't agree, but then again, there was the slight chance that the attorney could make his client talk. And right now everything that was important was Molly and her wellbeing. So if a few minutes alone for them in private helped them to find the girl, they would readily agree.

"Five minutes, Mr. McClure, that's all we can give you," Frank nodded and stood up from his chair.

"Thank you," he replied and just waited until the two policemen had left the room, before he started to ask his questions. "Jack, what the heck is going on here?"

Outside of the room, Horatio and Frank were leaning against the glass, observing the actions inside.

"Do you think that he will make him talk?"

"I hope so Frank. We already have him for murder or at least homicide, but that's not important at the moment. Molly is."

Nodding, Frank agreed wholeheartedly. "Do you think she's still alive?"

Horatio just shrugged. "My gut feeling is telling me yes, but you never know when it comes to such creeps. I guess she's hidden somewhere, waiting that he comes back. He probably wanted to see if we suspect him and that's why he was at home and bummed around the crime scene. If we hadn't noticed the blood, he would have felt confident and taken his time with Molly." Even thinking about it made him feel like puking. Those creeps were disgusting.

"Let's hope that he didn't have the chance to do that," Frank said and felt the sudden urge to slam his fist in Miller's face. "Well at least they have a lively conversation," he smirked and nodded towards the two men.

"Yeah, let's hope that he can convince him to talk. He'll probably ask for a deal."

"Do we agree with that?" Frank despised deals, especially when the case was crystal clear.

"I don't know, actually it's not really our decision, now is it?" he asked. "In the very end, it's the prosecutor's decision."

"True, but we can still agree with it and most of the time the prosecutor agrees with us."

"Mhm," Horatio mumbled and grabbed the door handle. "But don't let us cross bridges before we come to them. Shall we?"

"We shall," Frank nodded and walked into the room, Horatio closing the door behind him. "So did you two come to a result?"

McClure looked at his client, who didn't look like he was going to answer the question, so he decided to do it himself. "We want a deal."

"A deal?" Horatio smiled knowingly. It was just like he had imagined. "And what for? As you told us only minutes ago, we already know that he murdered the grandparents." Two could play this game and he was very good at playing.

McClure had been waiting for this particular answer, but he did have an ace up his sleeve. "But you want to find out where the girl is and my client is the only one who knows that."

Horatio gave him a slight nod. "I'm listening."

"The deal will look like this," he started and leaned a bit forward. "My client swears that he hadn't intended to kill the other two people, but only kidnapping the child. We want you to agree with the fact that it was homicide and not cold blooded murder."

"Well that's sounds nice…. For your client, but what's our advantage?" Frank interjected.

"In return he will give you the place where you can find the child."

Horatio and Frank shared a look and leaned back. "Well then, tell us," Frank prompted, which made McClure laugh.

"Surely not, first the deal, then the address." He was also good in playing games.

Frank just sighed and nodded. It would have been too easy then. "Alright, I need to talk to the prosecutor first."

"You do that then," McClure nodded and watched Frank getting up, while Lt. Caine remained seated.

"You come with me, Horatio?" Frank wondered and had expected the redhead to follow him.

"No, I think you can easily do that on your own," he shook his head and eyed Miller, who hadn't said a word since they had entered the room.

"As you wish," Frank chuckled and left the room. Too bad, he hated talking to the prosecutor and wouldn't have minded to leave this special task to his colleague. Maybe next time.

Once Frank had left the room, Horatio crossed his arms and smiled at the other men. "Want something to drink?" he asked politely, because it could take some time until Frank would be back.

"What about some-" McClure started, but was interrupted by his cell phone. Annoyed, he looked at the display and noticed that it was the number of a very important client. "Sorry, but I need to take this."

"No problem, but not here and not on this floor," Horatio calmly replied and couldn't believe his luck.

"What? Why?"

"It's the department rule," he shrugged.

"I've never heard of this before," McClure exclaimed and eyed the redhead.

"It's new. Since this month. Guess it has something to do with cell phone radiating and all the electronic around here." Of course this was a complete lie, but he needed the attorney somewhere else, so he could put his plan into action.

Torn between staying here and missing the important call or leaving his client here alone, McClure sighed. "Okay, but there's no way that he will signature a deal I haven't approved, you know that Lt."

"Of course, Sir," he replied politely. "We will wait for you."

"Good," he nodded and looked at his client. "Don't say anything about the place. Just stay quiet. It won't take long." And with that he also left the room and the two remaining men alone.

After a couple of moments of silence, Horatio got up from his chair and walked the window. Looking out he took a deep breath and smiled to himself. He could feel the nervousness radiating from the other man, probably even fear. This was good, very good for him. "So Mr. Miller, since we're alone now, why don't we talk from man to man," he started and knew that he had the man's complete attention. "Why don't you tell me where she is?"

"No," Miller replied. "My attorney told me not to tell you, so I won't."

"Yes," Horatio chuckled and walked to the glass table. "He told you that, that's true. But he didn't tell you other things."

Miller furrowed his brows. "Other things?" he asked carefully. "What other things?"

"Oh," Horatio said nonchalantly and sat down on the edge of the table, never breaking the eye contact. "For example the fact that there won't be a deal when the girl is dead, but that you will get accused of triple murder, which definitely means the death penalty."

"Death penalty?" Miller asked, his face becoming white.

"Most definitely, yes. They probably will believe you that you didn't want to kill the grandparents, but kidnapping a child, leaving it alone somewhere…" he sighed dramatically, "definitely lead you to the death cell. "So.. is the child somewhere it might die? Maybe because it's too warm and there's no water for her? Or are there wild animals, which can probably kill her?"

"I.. uh.. I'm not sure, I don't know," Miller stammered and wished that his attorney would be back soon.

"Where is she, Jack? Where are you hiding her?" Horatio intermitted the stammering with a stern voice.

"I can't tell you, the deal," the man exclaimed and felt how he started to sweat.

"So you want to die then?"

"No, no I don't want to die. I-"

"Then tell me where she is. Where is she, Jack? Where's Molly?" he asked a bit more forceful.

Miller looked around nervously, his eyes never long on an object. "I can't.. I can't…," he shook his head weakly. "I can't…," he whimpered.

"Damn it, Jack," Horatio growled darkly. "Where is she? It's your life for christ's sake. So either try to keep it or lose it, it's your decision."

He didn't want to lose his life. Dear god he didn't want to lose it. He had murdered two people yes, but he was afraid of his own death. "I…I…have a house..for fishing…near a small lake in the Glades."

Finally! "Give me the address," Horatio ordered and took out a piece of paper.

"It..it doesn't really have one…," Jack whispered, because he didn't want to annoy the redhead even more.

"Good. Get up then," Horatio replied and was fed up with this whole situation.

"Why?" Miller asked confused.

"Get up," Horatio replied harshly and grabbed the man's shoulder to underline his request. "You're going to show me where the house is and you better haven't lied to me about it, or you'll find yourself swimming with some alligators," he threatened and the way he was feeling right now, this could actually happen easily.

"O-okay," Miller got out while he was rudely pulled up from his position. "I didn't.. I didn't lie to you, I promise..," he stammered and followed Horatio outside.

"We will see," was all Horatio said and made his way to the elevators, hoping that they wouldn't run across Frank or, even worse, McClure.

"Are… are you allowed to do that?" Miller asked insecure. "I..I mean take me with you.."

"In contrast to you, yes I'm allowed to take someone with me if it's necessary to safe their life and right now that's what I'm doing," Horatio replied and jammed his fist against the button of the lift. Only a few more seconds and no one could stop them.

"Horatio? What are you doing here?"

Horatio just looked upwards. _"__A__few__more__seconds__was__all__I__was__asking__and__you?__"_ he argued with the big man in heaven and looked like as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. "Nothing, just needed to get some fresh air."

Immediately, one eye brow shot up and her hands wandered to her hips. "Fresh air," she repeated his words and didn't believe a single word. "Sure, with a suspect," she pointed at Miller. "Wanna try that again?"

"Calleigh…," he sighed.

"Horatio…," she gave him her best smile.

"Look," he tried again when the door of the lift opened behind them. "I don't have the time to explain things," he continued and grabbed Miller by the arm and pulled him inside the lift.

"Well, you have all the time from here to the parking lot," she told him and quickly slipped inside the cabin before the door closed. "So?"

Horatio just rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. This woman could be more stubborn than he was. Typical southern. "Jack and I are going for a run in the car."

"I see," she nodded and looked between the two men. While Horatio seemed to be quiet relaxed, Miller was definitely nervous. "Any why's that?"

"He wants to show me the place where he's hiding Molly," Horatio answered her and didn't even try to beat around the bush. "That is, if he's telling me the truth," he continued, his tone indicating that Miller better didn't play with him.

Noticing that, the man quickly shook his head. "I told you that I'll show where she is, I promise."

"Mhm," Horatio only mumbled and gave Calleigh a small smile. "Satisfied?"

"Not really. Will you meet with other officers there?" There was no way that Horatio could drive a suspect through the town with no other officers behind.

"Nope," he simply replied. "There's no need for it."

No need? Was he kidding? "Then I'll go with you."

"You won't Cal, that's just between me and Jack here."

"And you know as well as I do that you can't take a suspect with you," she argued back. "Especially not without some back up."

Horatio couldn't help but grin at that. He definitely didn't need any kind of back up. What should Jack try to do? Kill him? Now that would be funny to see. "Cal-" he tried again, but was once again interrupted by her.

"No, Horatio, I mean it. I'll come with you." She knew that he knew that his plan was rather illegal and could cost his head. "You can't keep an eye on both, Jack and the girl."

Jack couldn't help but smile; this woman had balls. "You two are too funny," he laughed, but quickly stopped when he got a double glare and a "Shut up" in response.

Horatio just sighed and shook his head. "Okay, you'll come with us," he finally agreed and knew that there was no other way. Calleigh would follow him anyway and the fact that she was actually right in doing so didn't make it any better.

"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" Calleigh just grinned and stepped out of the lift when the door opened again. Vampire or not, Horatio couldn't stay mad at a woman for long or not fulfil her wishes, especially when it came to his girlfriend.

_tbc_


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ahh thank you all for your reviews. I surely enjoyed reading them. Since it seems that people are still interested in the story, here is the next update. Hope you like it.**

**Chapter 10**

The small pebbles scrunched when the Hummer slowly came to stop. The drive to the hiding place had taken them roughly 30 minutes and now they had crossed the first stages of the National Park. The drive had been quiet, everyone trapped in their own thoughts. Would they find Molly? Would she still be alive then? They didn't know. Of course Miller had promised more than once that he hadn't done any harm to the child, but then again, most of the creeps weren't doing any "harm" to the children they had captured in their own crazy world. That's why Horatio and Calleigh were expecting everything.

Slowly, Horatio turned off the engine and looked around. When Miller had said something about a fishing house, he had expected to find some small one-room lodge, but the house they were now facing was…indeed a house. There was no way, that he had a permission to build something like this in the Everglades, but in all honesty, Horatio didn't care at all. His focus was solely on the girl and the hope that she was still alive. "This is it?" he turned around and eyed Miller behind his sunglasses.

"Y-yes, it is," the man quickly nodded; looking away to avoid red-head's glare.

"Good, then let's have a look," Horatio replied and opened his door.

"I'm going with you?" Miller asked surprised when Calleigh helped him out of Hummer with a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Of course. Do you think we'll leave you here? All alone so you can go for a walk while we search for a child that isn't there?" Horatio snorted and reached for his handcuffs. "Turn around."

"She is here," Miller insisted and complained when Horatio cuffed him.

"We'll see," Horatio replied shortly and turned his attention to Calleigh. "I'll go first and you bring up the rear?"

"Sounds good to me," she agreed with a slight smile, knowing that he was always endeavouring her safety. And even though she was a woman who didn't want to be treated any different to a man, she liked that kind of chivalry and had no intention of calling him on it. "Let's go then," she motioned the men and opened the small strap of her holster just in case.

In a threesome, they made their way to the front door where they came across their first problem. Casually, Horatio tried to turn the knob, but nothing happened. "The key?" he turned to Miller, who looked suddenly very nervous.

"I—I don't have it with me, I—," he stammered, but was interrupted by Horatio.

"You let us drive almost 20 miles but don't have the key with you?" he asked, hoping that he hadn't heard correctly.

"I.. uh…," Miller started again, but suddenly his eyes widened. "I have a spare key, underneath the doormat," he said proudly, hoping to calm down the red head again.

Horatio just snorted. "How clichéd," he remarked and crouched down and moments later he had the key in his hands.

"Well there aren't many people around here, so I thought it would be a good idea," Miller shrugged and followed Horatio inside; Calleigh following them.

Like always, Horatio took off his sunglasses and let his eyes roam over the interior. It seemed like the house hadn't been used for a while, which hopefully meant that Molly was either his first victim or it had been a long while ago since he had kidnapped another child. "So where is she?" he turned around and raised his eyebrows.

"Actually…she's… upstairs in the-," he started but stopped when Horatio held up his hand.

"Don't even say it," he said with disgust and motioned Miller to take the lead. "Creep," he mumbled quietly, but not quiet enough.

Calleigh just raised her brows when she heard that. Of course, everyone thought like this of such people, but they actually kept it to themselves; especially Horatio who was even polite to the lowest scum they met. So the fact that Horatio of all people was saying his opinion out loud, made her wonder where this situation would let them, if Miller was lying to them.

Upstairs, they walked through the small hall until they reached a door that was slightly ajar. "Should I-?" Miller turned towards the two police officers.

"No you shouldn't," Horatio immediately replied in a harsh tone. "You wait here," he said and slowly opened the door a bit wider. "Keep an eye on him, Cal," he ordered and entered the room. "Molly?" he asked softly and closed the door behind him. "Molly?" he asked again and let his eyes roam over the furniture. There was a bed, a wardrobe, a small window that let some sunlight into the room, children's' toys but...no Molly.

"_I__can__'__t__believe__it,__"_ he thought to himself, but tried his best to stay calm. There was always the option that she was hiding somewhere and who could blame her for doing so? No one. So he walked to the bed, pulled out his small flashlight and knelt down. Carefully he pulled away the comforter to have a look at what was underneath the bed, but all he could see was dust. With a sigh he stood up again and shook his head. The problem was that he couldn't sense anyone in the room. Of course he couldn't sense people, but he could sense their emotions if they were strong enough; and a frightened child should have enough emotions to fill the complete room. Yet, there wasn't anything.

"Molly? I'm a police officer," he said even though he was sure it was needless and slowly opened the cupboard's door. "Children's clothes," he said to himself and looked through it. "Dressings, underwear, shorts, god this guy is a freak," he mumbled to himself and already felt the slight anger boiling in his veins. With a little force he closed the door and stomped to the room's door. "She isn't here," he snarled and shot an icy glare towards Miller. "Where is she?"

"She-she should be here. I left her in this room, I promise," Miller stammered and tried to have a look into the room. "I swear!"

"Maybe she's somewhere else in the house," Calleigh tried to reason. "The door was slightly open, she probably left the room and is now wandering around." It wasn't that she wanted to come to Miller's defence, but there was still a high chance that Molly was in this house.

"You better hope that this is true," Horatio hissed and grabbed Miller by the arm. "How many other rooms are on this floor?"

"O-only two," Jack answered and tried to free his arm from Horatio's firm grip. "The bathroom and a very small storeroom."

"Good, then take the lead and show us," Horatio nodded and let him go.

10 Minutes later, they had found both rooms, but still no sign of Molly. Together they walked down the stairs, Miller still taking the lead, Calleigh behind him and Horatio being the last. His anger was more and more evident. He hated being played with, especially when it came to children and their molesters, so it was a good thing that Calleigh was acting as a kind of bumper between them.

"On this floor there's only the living-room, the kitchen and another small storeroom," Miller explained without being asked. He had no idea where this kid was, but he dearly hoped that she was in one of those rooms or he would get into a lot of trouble. He probably wasn't the smartest man on earth, but he did realize that the Lieutenant wasn't amused about this situation.

"I think we can leave out the living-room," Calleigh commented. "Since we're standing in it," she shrugged. "I guess she would have come out when she heard our voices and actually I can't see any hiding place here." There were no big cupboards, no niches and the couch wasn't high enough so a child could hide underneath it.

Horatio agreed wholeheartedly, but this didn't make it any better. "Then let's go to the kitchen then," he said and pushed Miller into the –what he thought- right direction.

"Stop pushing me around," the man grumbled.

"Stop lying to me and I might do that," Horatio snarled in return.

"I didn't lie to you," Jack defended himself and tried to struggle out of his cuffs.

"Yeah and that's why we have already found her, huh? Stop struggling and go," Horatio ordered with a hard voice, his anger coming more and more to the surface.

"Horatio," Calleigh said softly and rested a hand on his arm. "She might be in the kitchen and is scared, no need to scare her even more because you two are fighting."

Horatio just mumbled something unintelligible and followed their suspect into the next room. "Molly?" he called. "Are you here? You can come out, sweetie, we're police officers," he tried it again, but to be honest, he had already given up hope and this meant nothing good for Miller.

"I-I don't know where else she could be," Jack said, the disbelief in his voice was clearly notable. Something Horatio was so sick of hearing.

"Calleigh," he turned to his colleague. "You go outside and call for assistance. We need a helicopter in the air, because she clearly isn't in the house any longer."

"I can do that via cell phone," she replied, because she didn't want to leave the two men alone.

"You won't have any reception here. Go and use the Hummer's mobile radio."

"But I-"

"Calleigh, this wasn't a question, okay? I'll have a look at the storeroom with him and you call for assistance. If she's outside we don't have any time for discussions."

He was right about that, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "I'll be back in a minute," she nodded and quickly left the house.

"Storeroom?" Horatio raised his eyebrows.

Great, now he was alone with the redhead. That wasn't good at all. "It's the next door actually," Miller said and didn't even bother to ask if he should take the lead; he just did. "Here, there it is," he pointed at the wooden door that was right next to the kitchen's entry.

Horatio just gave him a glare. "You better hope for your own sake that she's there," he whispered and opened the door without preamble. All that greeted him was emptiness. "For God's sake," he swore and closed the door with a loud bang. "Do you think that this is funny? Is this all a big joke for you, you freak?" he snarled and made his way to Miller who on his part stepped backwards.

"I swear to you that I left her here. It's not my fault that the stupid kid left the house," he argued back and the moment the words the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

"Not your fault?" Horatio shouted back and sandwiched Miller between the wall and his body. "You fu**ing freak kidnapped her and it's her fault?"

"I-I didn't mean it like that," Miller whimpered and was more than afraid of this man. He wasn't sure, but the eyes seemed to be bluer than they'd been before; like crystal blue.

"Oh you didn't mean it like that, huh? Just like your promise, right? You didn't mean that too," Horatio scoffed, his voice definitely lower than it normally was.

"I did, I swear to you I did," Miller replied and looked around furiously. This man was crazy and now he was alone with him. "Let me go, please let me go," he begged, when suddenly his eyes fell on his rescue in form of Calleigh who had just entered the house again because she'd heard the shouting. "Please help me, he's going to kill me."

"Oh you would like that, wouldn't you? Me killing you so you don't have to rot in your cell," Horatio laughed at him.

"Horatio please," Calleigh interrupted. "Let him go, it won't help us finding the girl."

"Stay out of this," he growled at her, his fangs slightly showing. "He's getting what he deserves."

Calleigh had never seen him acting like this and to be honest, she was afraid. This wasn't her Horatio, the calm and sensible man. This was the vampire. The incalculable vampire, who could kill everyone inside this room within seconds. "Horatio," she tried it once again to knock some sense into him, but seeing his fangs, the cold blue eyes and his face told her that it was to no avail.

"Get out of here!" he ordered and the tone made it clear that she'd better follow it.

"No please, you can't leave me alone with him," Miller pleaded.

"Shut up!" Horatio immediately interrupted. This guy would get something of his own medicine.

Calleigh was torn between staying here and helping Miller and leaving like Horatio had told her. Of course, as a police officer you had to help people, but right now she wasn't sure, if Horatio's anger would be directed towards her then. Maybe it was cowardly, but in the end, the fear she felt made her leaving the house, hoping against hope that Horatio wouldn't hurt Miller.

Seeing her go, Miller felt the panic rising in his chest. "No.. no you can't leave me here," he shouted after her, but to no avail.

"Shut up, sissy," Horatio growled and grabbed him by his collar. "It's easier with little children, huh?" he snarled. "They're frightened and do everything you say, but when it comes to people your size, all you can do is whine," he went on and lifted the man up until his feet weren't in contact with the floor any longer.

"Oh God.. oh God…," Miller mumbled and tried his best to get out of the grip, but it was too strong.

"God won't help a freak like you are," Horatio laughed and pressed Miller's body against the cold wall. "Where's the girl?" he shouted.

"I-I don't know," Jack whined, "you have to believe me, I don't know."

Enraged, Horatio slammed his fist into the wall, right next to Miller's head; leaving a bump there. "Next time, this will be your head," he threatened.

Seeing the bump out of the corner of his eyes, Jack racked his brains in hope to find some explanation for all this, but he had no idea. Turning his eyes to Horatio again, he had the impression to see fangs, but this was highly unbelievable. "Dear God," he whispered, "what the hell are you?"

"I," Horatio started and leaned towards Miller's face, "am your worst nightmare."

Outside of the house, Calleigh was waiting for the backup she had called and she tried to ignore the shouting coming from inside. Suddenly, there was a cry and it all went quiet; the first thought that came into her mind was that Horatio had killed Miller. "Oh my god," she said to herself and grabbed her gun. Miller had done horrible things, yes, but they had no right to kill him. Carefully, she made her way towards the door, when she noticed some movement that made her stop dead in tracks. Only a moment later, Horatio came out – alone. "Where's Miller? What have you done to him?" she asked, surprised that her voice sounded so calm, while the rest of her body was vibrating with fear. Fear of her own boyfriend.

"I pinned him on the ceiling and stuffed his mouth, because his whining was annoying me," Horatio answered indifferently while he passed her by. He had other things on his mind than this man. There was still a lost little girl they had to find and if she had left the house, she was in great danger.

Calleigh's eyes went wide open. "What? You did what?" she asked shocked and against better thinking, she followed him and grabbed his arm. "Horatio wait."

"Calleigh, I don't have time for stop and stay at the moment. Molly's probably out there, in the wilderness, all alone," Horatio sighed, but stopped nevertheless when he felt her hand on his arm.

"This is not only about Molly any more Horatio, this is also about your career and life, damn it," Calleigh replied irritated, because his behaviour was more and more affecting her. "You killed a man, Horatio. In cold blood of all things. There's no need to do that, he was in no second a real threat to any of us," she tried to reason him. "You probably can't die by lethal injection, but do you want to stay the next couple of years in prison?"

Everyone would know about his true nature and then? She couldn't understand why he was so thoughtless now, while he'd been so careful for so many years when it came to his closest friends. "And stop chuckling, this isn't funny at all," she snarled.

Horatio tried to, but couldn't stop. "Calleigh, do you really think that I would ruin my perfect little life because of such a creep?" he asked amused. "I thought you know me better than that."

At this very moment, it was Calleigh's anger rising to the surface and the slap was clearly audible even a few meters away. "Don't you dare to treat me like this, Horatio Caine," she huffed. "Don't you dare to make fun of me like this." In a flush, she turned around and walked back to the house.

Out of reflex, Horatio rubbed his cheek and looked after her. "Calleigh," he called. "I didn't kill him; I just locked him into the small storeroom next to the kitchen." With a sigh, he followed her. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Turning around, she sent him a glare. "No you aren't, Horatio. You aren't sorry. And now I'll have a look at Miller and he better be still alive."

"He is, I promise," he told her sincerely. "I'll have a look around here, because we didn't find her inside." Maybe the girl had left the house via the front door and the door had shut behind her. This was at least the only explanation he had considering Miller was telling the truth.

Calleigh just shrugged, her main focus was now on Miller and the hope that Horatio hadn't hurt or even killed him. She briskly made her way inside the house and was relieved when she didn't notice any blood in the living-room. But knowing Horatio, or rather said the vampire in him, this didn't have to mean anything.

Not wanting to think of such a gruesome situation, she made her way to the kitchen and the storeroom. The door was closed and a chair was stuck below the door handle, so it couldn't be opened from the inside. "Please let him be inside," she whispered to herself and opened the door.

Immediately, Miller tried to hide away and get away from the other person. "No please, I don't know where she is, I promise," he whimpered.

"It's okay Mr. Miller, it's me Det. Duquesne," she tried to reassure the obviously distraught man. "Let's get out of here, okay?"

Looking up, Miller tried to find out if the redhead was somewhere to be seen. "Are you alone?"

"Yes, my partner is searching for the girl," she nodded and held out a hand for him.

"O-okay," Miller whispered and tentatively reached for her hand. He didn't even think of trying to escape, because he knew for sure that the redhead would hunt him down and do incredible painful things to him.

"It's alright, you're safe," she smiled at him and helped him out of the storeroom. _"__Oh__lord,__Horatio.__What__have__you__done?__"_

Horatio meanwhile was busy searching the area. There were so many options of which way Molly could have taken and he had just opted for the most obvious one. That's why he was following the road now, his senses on full alert. "So where are you little one?" he whispered to himself and stopped when he noticed an anomaly on one of the bushes. It looked like someone or something had fought their way through it and now several twigs were broken off.

"Hey look at what we have here," he smiled when he reached for a piece of clothes which was hanging on one of the twigs. "You sure know how to hide yourself, Molly," he said amused and wrestled through the vegetation. He didn't care if his suit would be destroyed afterwards, if it meant that he would find the little girl.

"Molly?" he called and walked even further into the small jungle. It was a good thing that it was still daylight, because otherwise it would have been really dangerous because of all the wild animals, but looking at the sun, he knew that time was running short. "Molly?" he called again and cocked his ears when he heard something.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and started to filter out the nature noises which surrounded him. "Molly?"

There! There was this noise again. He quickly opened his eyes and made his way into the direction where the noise had come from. "Molly?" he called again and stopped in relief when he saw the little girl. "Molly," he said softly and smiled gently when the girl looked up in surprise.

"Hey there little one, we've been searching for you the whole day," he slowly walked to her.

"Who are you?" she asked frightened.

"My name is Horatio. I'm a police officer," he told her and crouched down next to her. "See? This is my badge," he said and showed her the golden object.

"Ohhh," she became wide eyed and carefully stroked the badge. "There's a bad man," she said suddenly.

"I know and he can't hurt you any longer, Molly."

"I miss my mommy and daddy," she sniffed.

"I'm sure you are," he whispered and then smiled at her. "Do you want to come with me? I'm not sure if your daddy or mommy will find you here?"

"But the bad man," she protested.

"Is already back at the police station." Well he probably hadn't arrived there yet, but he surely was on his way. "I promise you he won't hurt you again. Now…come with me? I'm sure you're hungry and thirsty."

"My tummy hurts and makes funny noises," she told him and opened her arms.

"I'm sure I have some M&Ms in my car," he chuckled and lifted her up. "It was very thoughtful of you to hide here," he told her proudly and carried her back to the house. "You did very well, little one."

Back at the house, Calleigh was torn between waiting for Horatio and following him. Miller was on his way to the station with one of the other officers who had arrived with their back up and she didn't know what to do. Horatio had acted more than strange and to be honest, she was a little afraid for the little girl. Horatio the man wouldn't hurt her, but the vampire? This was a complete different story. "Waiting here won't do you any good, Calleigh," she told herself and waved at one of the officers. "I'm going to find Lt. Caine," she told him and the words had barely been spoken, when Horatio appeared out of nowhere.

"Horatio," she called and quickly made her way to him, when she noticed the little girl in his arms.

"Shhh," he whispered and nodded his head towards the child. "She's asleep; I think this day was a bit too much for her."

Realizing that he was right, Calleigh just nodded. "Where did you find her?"

"Not that far away actually; she must have followed the road and then walked further into the jungle."

"How did you find her?" Calleigh asked and followed him to their car.

"I noticed some broken twigs and a piece of clothes, why?" he asked and opened the back door of the Hummer.

"_Well__maybe__you__have__some__super__powers__like__X-Ray__vision__or__something,__"_ she thought to herself sarcastically. "Oh..just curious."

"Hm," he just mumbled and carefully put the girl inside. She was too small to sit in the car without a seat, so this was a slight problem. "Would it be okay if you sit with her in the back?" he asked and was his calm, usual self. Nothing reminded of the wild outburst half an hour ago.

This was also something that confused Calleigh a lot. "I," she blinked.

"I think it'd be safer for her if someone was sitting with her. She's much too small for the seating belt."

"Oh…yes," now she realized what he was talking about. "Sorry, yes you're right," she nodded. Ignoring his helping hand (and therefore his confused look), she got into the car. Just because he was acting normal now, didn't mean that she wasn't angry with him any more. She just didn't want to talk about it in front of others; especially not a frightened child.

They would have to talk about this and she'd made sure that she'd get some answers. All fear aside, this was her boyfriend and she needed to know who he really was and if this was what she wanted from life. Because she'd always promised herself that she'd never wanted to be with a man she'd be frightened of.

But first they had to reunite a little girl with her family. This was the most important thing to do right now. Only time could tell what would happen afterwards.

_Tbc?_


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. They certainly made my day. I'm also happy to hear that you liked what happened to Miller and that you're now concerned about Horatio's and Cal's relationship. Let me tell you that you will find out here if they can work things out or not. Please enjoy.**

**Chapter 11**

It was later that day, already evening actually, when Calleigh stopped her car in front of Horatio's house. Deciding between staying at her own safe house and visiting her boyfriend hadn't been an easy decision, but in the end her need to get some answers had been too strong to quell. So here she was, standing in front of his door and not being able to knock.

When they had arrived at the police station, Molly's parents had already been waiting for their little girl and it had been a very satisfying feeling to see the family reunited again. This little girl had gone through a lot and the journey would probably never end due to the loss of her grandparents, but Calleigh hoped that she would make it. Her kidnapper would never get out of prison again (something Horatio had promised the parents and Cal knew that he would make sure of that) and this was the very first step to heal.

Sighing to herself, she shook herself out of her thoughts and rang the bell. This meeting and the conversation she'd surely have with him, would either end their relationship or make it stronger; it was just as easy as that. Well as easy as such a serious situation could be anyway.

"Cal, hey, I didn't know you were coming over tonight," Horatio greeted her pleasantly surprised by her visit and smiled at her.

She really had to be more in the here and now; she hadn't even heard him opening the door. "Oh..yes," she mumbled, clearly a bit surprised that he was actually talking to her. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," he nodded, noticing her strange behaviour instantly. Opening the door a bit further, he let her in and closed the door behind him again. Back at the lab, she'd made it quite clear that she needed some space from him, so seeing her now in his house was a bit odd; Horatio didn't mind though. They all needed some time alone every now and then, especially after such cases. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Calleigh had just entered the living room, when she noticed a glass with some red liquid on the couch table. Closing her eyes, she wondered if this visit had been such a great at all. "Horatio?" she turned towards him.

"Yes?" he furrowed his brows.

"Is that tomato juice?" she asked and pointed at the glass.

Following the direction, Horatio tried his best to hide a smirk. "Do you want it to be?"

"Yes," came the quick reply.

"Well then it is," he said seriously, though he was rather amused.

"Really?" she asked doubtfully.

"I'm afraid...no," he shook his head and quickly reached for the glass "Sorry, I didn't expect any guests so..I.."

"It's okay," she interrupted him and held up her hand. "Do you have some lemonade or something?" She really didn't need to have this particular discussion about his "food" right now.

"Sure," he nodded, "be right back. Make yourself comfortable," he smiled at her and vanished into the kitchen. There he quickly gulped his glass and prepared two new ones for him and Calleigh. You didn't have to be a genius to realize that something was seriously wrong; he just didn't know what it was. He was determined to find it out though. "Here you go," he greeted her once he was back in the living-room and handed her the glass.

"Thanks," she smiled politely and took a large sip. She was nervous, something she'd never really felt when she was with Horatio and this disturbed her. "So…"

"So…," he repeated and sat down next to her on the couch. When she didn't continue, he took matter in his own hands. "What's wrong Cal? I mean...you're sitting here, as stiff as a poker…"

"I'm not sure if we should continue this," she suddenly blurted out without thinking and took another sip to quieten herself.

Taken aback, Horatio looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Looking at him, she took a deep breath. "I don't know who you are anymore."

"Well, last time I had a look at my I.D. I was Horatio Caine," he laughed, but stopped when she didn't join in.

She didn't find this funny at all. "Well yes, your I.D. might say that, but who are you really? Horatio Caine? The vampire?"

Ah, now there was the rub. "In actual fact, I'm a combination of both, though I don't let the latter out quite often," he replied carefully. Seeing that this wasn't enough of an answer for her, he smiled. "I feared that this situation might come up. You're not the first woman asking me this particular question."

"I'm not?" she asked quietly and looked at him.

Shaking his head, he looked down for a moment. "No, no you aren't." He carefully rested his hand on hers and started to rub it with his thumb. Relief flooded him when she didn't pull away. "It's been a very long time ago.."

"Who was she?" she asked intrigued. Normally she wasn't eager to hear about past lovers, but somehow she knew that it was important this time.

Giving her a soft smile, he answered her in a far away voice. "My wife, Kathryn."

Calleigh was stunned. His wife? She'd never heard anything about a wife. Was she already dead? Was she a vampire like Horatio? There were so many questions in her mind, but she was only able to utter one. "Your wife?"

"Mhm," he nodded. "My first and only wife." He got up from the couch and walked to the bookshelf. "So where are you.." he mumbled to himself and then reached for another photo album. "Here you are," he exclaimed and walked back to Calleigh, who was looking rather confused at him.

"You have pictures of her?"

"A few, yes," he answered and sat down again.

"When..did you meet her?"

"As I said, a long time ago. I was almost 18 when we met," he grinned at her.

"This _is_ a very long time," she dead-panned, which made him laugh.

"Most definitely, yes. Do you want to see her?" he asked and was pleased when she eagerly nodded. "Okay here we go."

"Oh Horatio," she exclaimed when he opened the album, "those are wedding pictures."

"Yes, we were very lucky at that time to have pictures of our wedding. Her brother was a photographer," he explained and pointed at the different people on the picture. "Well I guess it's obvious that this is me and Kathryn," he chuckled.

"Oh you looked very neat in your suit," she giggled at the very young man who was grinning at the photographer. She had always tried to picture him at such an age, but to no avail. Seeing him now, really made her laugh. "And lanky."

Snorting at that, he rolled his eyes. "I'm not showing you these pictures to make fun of me."

Patting his knee she gave him an apologetic smile. "It was just an observation and I realized that I like the way you look now a lot better." Without waiting for some impish reply, she went on. "This is Kathryn? She looks beautiful."

Nodding at that, Horatio smiled softly. "She did; she always did. But I can't remember a day where she'd looked more beautiful as on the day she became mine."

Hearing the proud and love he had for this woman, Calleigh got even more intrigued about her. "You loved her very much, didn't you?"

"I did, I still do. To be honest, she'll always be the love my life, I just moved on. I'll never forget her though."

She should have been envious of this woman, a woman that was still holding Horatio's heart in her hands, a woman that was long dead, but still, Calleigh couldn't. There were only a few people who were lucky enough to find their true love and it seemed that Horatio and Kathryn had been two of them. "And who is this?" she asked and looked at the pictures again.

"This is her side of the family, her parents and both her brother and sister. Here's my part, my parents and great parents."

"No siblings?" she asked.

"Nope, spoiled only child," he laughed.

"Or you were quite a handful," she joked.

"Maybe that too," he grinned.

"So how did you two meet?" she asked and turned the page.

"Do you really want to know?" he replied confused. "I thought women don't want to hear about such things?"

"Normally, I'd agree with that, but I find it highly interesting to learn more about your past. I mean…only if you want to tell me, I guess it's not that easy to talk about her?"

"It depends," he shrugged. "Sometimes I can only feel sadness, thinking about her, but other times, just happiness. I think this time it'll happiness."

She smiled encouragingly at him. "Tell me your story then."

"Well this can be very long.."

"We have the whole night," she silenced him.

"Okay, then...here we go. It all started with a small town feast. My best friends and I thought it would be a good idea to find some nice women," he grinned at the memory, "and so we decided to take a look around. You see, Kathryn lived in the next town, so we didn't know each other... Anyway, when we arrived we made it straight to the large tent where all the dancing was and the moment I entered the tent, my eyes fell on a group of young women. They were giggling about something and suddenly I saw her. She was wearing a wonderful dress, her brown hair was curled around her shoulders…and well...I was mesmerized by her," he said amused about himself.

"You sure sound like it," Calleigh smiled.

"When my friends noticed that I was staring at her and not listen to them, they dragged me further into the tent and started teasing me."

"Just like today," Cal laughed.

"Yes, today's youth isn't really different from then," he agreed. "So they tried to talk me into going to her and ask her for a dance and when I finally agreed to it, she'd disappeared."

"Typical."

"Let's go the whole hog, right?" he smirked. "Suddenly one of the boys saw her on the dance floor, dancing with some good looking and seemingly also rich fellow. No need to say that I wasn't particular happy about this. But then again, Kathryn was a beautiful woman, so there was no way that I was the only man being interested in her. So my friend had the brilliant idea to ask one of her friends for a dance, to get some information about her."

"Sneaky."

"Very much so, but he came back with the one or other interesting information. First of all, we found out about her name and who this fellow was she was dancing with. This information though, crushed my little, fragile heart."

"You're doing that on purpose, huh? So spill it, who was he?"

"Her fiancé."

"No.."

"That was my first reaction as well, believe me. Since her friends had been quite talkative, we had a lot of information about him and her. It seemed like Kathryn wasn't so keen on marrying him, but didn't have a chance to say no."

"A forced marriage?" Calleigh asked shocked.

"In a way…yes. You see their fathers had been best friends and promised that their son and daughter would marry. You see, this had been quite normal at my time; it was a good way of keeping your family, properties and your money safe."

Calleigh just snorted at that.

"Well I wasn't so happy about this as well, but as I said, it was a normal procedure in the...upper class."

"So Kathryn belonged to that upper class and this jerk as well," Cal concluded.

"Yes and no. You can't really say that Kathryn's family was overly rich, but her fiancé's family was. And her father wanted her to be in good hands, nothing wrong with that."

"I can see the point, yes, at least back then."

"Good, well where was I? Ah yes, her talkative friend. It was just my luck that Edward, her fiancé, had to leave and that my friends wouldn't leave me alone until I'd ask her to dance. Not that I was as enthusiastic about it as I'd been before, but in the end, I relented. So I asked her and well…it was the best decision of my life. I'd never felt like that before when we danced and even though we'd been complete strangers, it was very easy to talk and laugh with her. Let's just say that I really hated it when my boys wanted to go home again."

"I feel with you. So how did you two end up together? I mean she was already spoken."

"Well the day after the festival, I started my career as a police man and, believe it or not, the guy who was my instructor was in fact her uncle. At first I didn't have a clue, but when we visited his relatives next town and Kathryn opened the door, I thought I was going insane."

Laughing, she shook her head. "That's what I call a coincidence."

"Tell me about it," he chuckled. "Well after that, I saw her quite often, actually every time he visited them she was there. I also talked with him about her and this Edward fellow and I was pleased when I found out that he wasn't happy about this forced marriage either. He had also talked about this with her father, but it hadn't changed anything."

"Her father didn't seem to be a nice man, I mean...forcing her to marry some guy she didn't love.."

"On the contrary, he loved Kathryn a lot; he wanted her to be taken care of, he thought that Edward would love her plus he was a man of honour and didn't want to break the promise he'd made years ago with his best friend."

Calleigh had, of course, a slight different opinion about this, but then again, she hadn't grown up at that time so it was very hard to judge on it. "Okay," she just nodded. "So why didn't she marry him, but you instead?"

"At that time, my life seemed to be full of coincidence. You see, me and my partner were following a robber, when we suddenly heard a woman calling for help. We decided that money wasn't worth a life, so we followed the screams. They led us into a dark alley and at the end of it, there was a woman and a man. It didn't look like he was attacking her, but he was fumbling with his trousers and.."

"He tried to rape her.." Calleigh finished the sentence.

"Yes, he tried. He couldn't though, because we pulled him away from her. When I saw his face, I thought I was dreaming; it was Edward, Kathryn's fiancé. The very man she was spoken to had tried to rape a woman in a dark valley…"

"Oh my..," Cal sighed. "I'm sure he tried to look innocent?"

"Of course he did, he tried to bribe me because he knew me, due to my regular visits. He got the shock of his life though, when my partner spoke to him," he grinned, "it was Kathryn's uncle."

"Perfect, I can really picture his shock."

"Oh yes, suddenly, he was a loss of words and it was quite easy to get him to the police station, believe me. When word spread around at what he did, the town was in commotion. Katy was ready to strike him, which she would have if I didn't stop her and I don't need to mention that the betrothal was broken. There was no way that her father would want her to marry such a filthy guy. The fact that he was imprisoned for a while made the decision even easier."

"Serves him right. So that's when you came into the picture.."

"Yes, but it took me quite a while to show her father that I was worthy of her. I mean.. Katy and I…we...had already fallen in love and it was me who asked her uncle to visit the family, so I could spend some time with her. In the end, it was him who talked to his brother and convinced him that I was good enough for her."

"Very romantic, like a Hollywood movie," she awed.

"Ha..yeah, but not romantic when you're right in the situation," he laughed softly. "But we did have our happy ending as you can see here," he pointed at the bride and groom and at the two rings underneath it.

"Those are yours?"

"Yes. When Katy died I couldn't wear the ring any longer and I decided to put them both inside the album."

"This way you're still close."

"Yes...in a way," he agreed and closed the book again. Looking at his watch, he realized that it was late evening already. "Wow, we talked quite a lot. Are you hungry? I mean, did you eat something before you came here?"

Being a little confused about his change of topics, it took her a moment to answer. "I..uhm..no, I didn't." She had been too uptight to be hungry, but now that he was asking, she realized that she was starving.

"I could make you something, if you want to."

Well she liked to be cooked for, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to eat the kind of food Horatio was eating. Thinking about it, she would never ever eat that kind of food. "Uhm..but..I mean you.."

"Don't worry Cal. I'm not talking about this kind of food. Since Alexx comes over here quite a lot and her kids anyway, I have some real food in the house. Or we can order something, as we did before."

"I think I opt for that." Seeing the slight hurt in his face, she smiled at him. "It's not that I don't trust your cooking," though she wondered if he actually could cook, "but I don't see the need for you slaving in the kitchen for me tonight. Why don't we just order some Chinese, okay?"

Though he wasn't sure if this was the real reason, he decided not to question her about it. "Sure," he just shrugged. He liked Chinese food and even though he didn't need it, he liked to eat it. "Let me get the menu.."

Much later that evening, Horatio and Calleigh were lounging around on the sofa. Their meal had been eaten some time ago and the movie they had watched had already finished. In a normal case they would've gone to bed already, but Calleigh, in particular, didn't feel like that. They hadn't really talked after his story about Kathryn, so her question was in fact still unanswered. And she couldn't make a decision about them until she would get an answer. "Horatio?" she asked softly, not sure if he was still awake or not.

"Mhm?" came the quiet reply, which was joined by a light yawn.

"I know we talked about Kathryn, but you still haven't answered my question," she pointed out and made herself a bit more comfortable on his chest.

"What question?" he asked confused.

"Well," she sighed, "I asked you who you are and you told me that she had the very same problem."

"Oh...yes," talking about Kathryn had made him forget this subject. "Well when I was turned back then in New York," he started, but was immediately interrupted by her curious question.

"You were turned in New York? I thought you lived in Ireland?"

Chuckling, he patted her back. "I grew up in Ireland, yes, but Katy and I...we wanted to see the New World…we…didn't see a future for us in Ireland, you know? I had a good job as a police man, but Katy wasn't happy. It was actually her who brought up the idea of moving away and I would have done anything for her."

"She actually seemed to be a strong-willed and in a way...modern woman," Calleigh mused.

"Oh believe me, she was one heck of a stubborn Irish woman," he laughed. "She had a heart of gold, but when she had set her mind on something, it was almost impossible to stop her. You know…you two are quite similar in that way. Both strong-willed, charming and beautiful women.."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she slapped his chest playfully. "But please, keep on talking…"

"As you wish my dear. So yes, we decided that we'd take the risk to move away from our families…friends…knowing that we'd never see them again."

"This must have been hard.."

"More than that. Of course...you could write them a letter, but in those days…this took months. It was a goodbye...forever. When we arrived in New York at first, it was all exciting and new, but once we'd settled down, we felt pretty lonely. We were missing everyone and it took us a while to find new friends, but to be honest, it had never been that kind of friendships like we had in Ireland." Feeling her nod in understanding, he continued. "I quickly found a job as a police man and Katy started in one of the several factories around the city. Life was pretty good, better than in Ireland when you leave out the homesickness."

"So it had been the right decision, I guess."

"Yes and no. If we hadn't moved to America, I might have never been turned."

"Is this a good or a bad thing?"

"Sometimes, I'm not so sure about this myself. I would have never met so many people, which would be a shame, but then again, I have seen so many things, I would've appreciated not to see."

"Hmm, I guess I see your point. I mean I always think that after a bad case or something, but living for so many years, it's not possible to only have happy times."

"No it's not," he agreed, "but we were talking about different things. So things were working just fine between us and we started to think about a family. We'd been married for two years back then and well…it surely was time."

A baby? Did Horatio really have a child? A child that most definitely was already dead? Did he mean that, when he talked about those unhappy times? "A child?"

"Yes, but it never happened. I don't know why, maybe it was fate that already knew what would happen to me, maybe we just weren't able to conceive a child…no matter what it was, it didn't work out. My so-called friends tried to talk me into taking some mistress or something, to create an heir no matter what, but I couldn't do that. I loved Kathryn with all my heart and I couldn't betray her. I mean, it probably was my fault that we couldn't have a baby, so how could I take the liberty to have an affair?"

This was so Horatio. Always faithful and just thinking about others. That's why she had fallen in love with this man.

"Katy was of course sad that we weren't able to start a family and it took me some work to get her out of this depression, but in the end we decided to move on and live our life. Every now and then I saw the longing in her eyes, when the neighbour kids visited us, but it always disappeared."

"And what about you? Did you want to have children?"

"I did, yes; but not so much that I would stop living. I wanted to fulfil her wish, I couldn't and never will, but I moved on."

"You're good with kids, I noticed that today again with little Molly," she smiled. Horatio and kids was a combination that warmed your heart.

"Thank you," he chuckled, "but I'll never have my own kids. I don't mind though, I already spoil Alexx' kids as much as she allows me to."

"I would have loved to see you babysitting them when they were little," she grinned at the thought.

"It wasn't a pretty sight, I can tell you that much. Those two are quite a handful, just like their mother."

"I'm sure they are," she giggled. Everyone knew that Alexx was also a very strong-willed woman and if her children were only half as stubborn, every babysitter would fight a losing battle.

"Anyway, it was several years after that when I was turned. I can hardly remember the first days afterwards...it's all a blur… All my senses were on high alert, no human food I ate made me stop being hungry, I didn't want to believe what I became…in the end it was another vampire who helped me through this. All I wanted was to go back to Katy, to see her again, feel her warmth again. I wanted to forget what had happened; I wanted to go back to my old life."

"The other vampire warned me, told me that I shouldn't. That this life was over; that she wouldn't accept me. Of course I didn't listen and went home. At first Katy was happy to see me again, but she soon noticed that something was wrong with me. You know…it takes a long time to control the vampire in you, if you want to that is, and so it happened very quickly that it showed its ugly head. In the end, Katy threw me out; she was afraid of me and I couldn't blame her."

"So you not only lost your life, but also the woman you loved," Cal sighed and her heart went out to him. This was a real tragedy.

"At first, yes. I was devastated and so full of anger. My life had been destroyed in one single night and I had no way to change it back. I knew that I either had to make Katy believe that it was still me, or I would ask someone to finish the job. There was no way that I wanted to live without her in my life. In the end, it took me months to get her trust back and the other vampire helped me to deal with my vampire side. Nowadays it only appears when I'm really, really angry and frustrated like today. I'm sorry that I frightened you and snapped at you, this was never my intention. All I was thinking about was this poor little girl and this jerk who had kidnapped her to do nasty things with her."

"I was afraid of you. When I saw your eyes and your fangs...when you hissed at me like that, I wasn't sure if you would cross the line and hurt me."

"I'd never do that," he quickly reassured her. "First, because I love you, second because I'm not allowed to hurt humans that way. You'll never have to be afraid of that."

Taking this as an answer for now, she changed the subject back to his late wife. "So how did Kathryn live with it?"

"We made the deal that...if I was really angry and knew that I couldn't control myself…I wouldn't come home until I cooled down again. She also asked me not to eat in front of her, but I had no intention to do that anyway. It took us some time to adjust, but it worked out. The other vampire became my mentor, so to say, and this helped me a lot."

"Well thinking about the fact that I've known you for some time now and that I'd never seen you like this until this day, I guess your anger management worked out quite well."

"It did, yes. I still have my moments, but then again, who doesn't? I look a bit more diabolic while I'm angry," he chuckled, "but other than that…others can be quite vocal as well when they're angry," he pointed out.

"True," she nodded. She always threatened to shoot someone when she was really angry, so this wasn't all that better from Horatio. "Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Shoot," he just smiled. He was feeling that Calleigh opened up to their relationship again and he was more than happy with that.

"You probably don't want to talk about it, but..how..did she..I mean..die? Why isn't she here with you?"

This was one of the questions he hated to answer, but he couldn't blame Cal to be curious about that. "She died due to tuberculosis. It was a very common and deadly disease back then."

"Didn't you say that you have healing blood? Couldn't you use it?"

"No...I couldn't," he shook his head. "We tried of course, but it didn't work. It made her feel a little better, but it neither stopped the disease, nor did it cure it."

"So..then you could have turned her?"

"I wanted to, by god I wanted to. Once she started to feel worse, I begged her to let me turn her. I couldn't stand the thought of losing her, to live without her presence in my life. I pleaded every day, but she wouldn't listen. My Katy had had a very strong belief in God and she said that we shouldn't cheat Him like this. If He wanted her to come to Him, she wouldn't disobey. Of course I didn't care about that, but as I said, my wife was a stubborn Irish woman."

Sitting up a bit, she looked at him. "You had no other chance than to see her die?" she asked compassionately, because it was easy to see that her death was still affecting the man that was sitting here with her.

"Yes…we used my blood to soothe her pain, but in the end, yes, I was bound to see her die. I was with her of course, nothing and no one would keep me away from her once she'd reached a critical condition…," he sighed and looked down at his hands. When he continued, his speech was soft and full of sadness. "It was the worst day of my life when she left me. It was like time stood still. Suddenly, my whole reason for being was gone and all there was...was grief. So much grief that swirled around me… I hardly remember the funeral. It was like I was an empty body. Nothing was of any interest for me, I didn't care about anything. I just took her ash with me. Most of it was buried in New York but a very small part was buried in Ireland, in her home town. I had promised her that before she died and I fulfilled her wish many years ago."

When she saw the first wet drop running down his cheek, she knew what her decision would be. This was Horatio Caine; a man who was able to feel love, sorrow, joy and sadness. This was the man she'd fallen in love with all those months or maybe years ago and she didn't want to lose him. Seeing him like this, with all his walls crumbled down, she knew that the vampire was only a very small part of him; and if it would show itself every once in a while, they'd deal with it. So she just wrapped her arms around him and pressed a light kiss on his temple. "I'm so sorry, Horatio. I know this won't bring her back, but I'm sure she'll watch over you. Love like this doesn't stop with death, it never does."

Horatio couldn't help but smile at that. Knowing his Kathryn, she would surely do just that. She had always kept an eye on him, so why should she stop that? "I guess you're right," he mumbled and was a bit embarrassed by his tears, so he quickly brushed them away. "Sorry for being…"

"What? Emotional when you talk about her? Well I'm surely not sorry for that, I'm rather happy about it," Cal interrupted him.

"Why?" he asked confused in return.

"Because it answered my question, that's why," she smiled at him. "I'm not sure if I'm as strong as Kathryn was, but I want to try. You're a wonderful man, Horatio and I probably overreacted earlier." Seeing that he tried to protest, she just put a finger on his lips. "I let my fears and insecurity rule without even taking the time to analyse the situation. I won't say that you handled the situation perfectly, because you didn't, but in the end, everyone is allowed to lose their temper. Vampire or not, doesn't matter."

"I'll try to be a bit more careful, especially when it comes to suspects," he promised, because he knew that he'd been very close to reveal his true nature today.

"Good, because I don't want you to share with some freaky vampire fan girls, who believe that, every vampire is like the one in their weird books," she grinned and kissed him again.

"Don't worry; there are a lot of things I'm dreaming about, but that's surely not one of them," he joked and stroked her cheek. "And talking about dreaming…," he grinned.

Taking the clue, she nodded. "I think it's way past our bed time."

"I think so too, my dear. And I just know the perfect place," he got up from the couch and held out his hand.

Accepting it, she got up as well. "The question is though, if we really get some sleep there…"

"This is what we're going to find out…"

_tbc if you want_


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews. So Horatio and Cal made up, let's find out how the team will react to their relationship. Plus.. we're also going to find out a bit more about H's past and our killer. Hope you like it. **

**Chapter****12**

When a chirping tone woke Horatio a few days later, he knew that his sleep was officially over. With closed eyes he reached for the cell phone and flipped it open. "Horatio?" he mumbled sleepily and tried his best not to fall asleep again. Something his bed companion didn't seem to have any problems with, because Cal hadn't even moved.

"Uh..H?" Speed asked confused when he heard his boss's voice.

"Yes, Speed. What is it?"

"I…actually wanted to call Calleigh," Speed replied uncertainly. Had he called the wrong number? He took a quick look at the cell in his hand and suddenly started to grin. He had called Calleigh, so if Horatio was picking up the phone in the morning this had to mean that… "Well," he grinned, "I think I can also talk to you and you can tell her afterwards."

Groaning Horatio opened his eyes and realized that he had indeed picked up Calleigh's cell in his sleepy state of mind. He would never hear the end of this he was sure. "Speed..," he warned the young man.

"Oh come on, H. We all knew that it was bound to happen and I can already tell you that we're happy for you both. Ha, this will cost Delko a few Dollars," Speed laughed. "But don't you dare to hurt her, or we'll kill you...well…as good as we can, but you know what I mean."

"I do," Horatio rumpled, "and you don't have to worry about that. So why did you call?"

"We have a case. Alexx is already on the way, so is Frank. Actually I'm just about to leave the house as well."

This was interesting. "Why didn't he call me?"

"Apparently he tried to, but you didn't pick up," Speed smirked.

"This morning is getting better and better," Horatio groaned again and could already feel a headache coming his way.

"Just tell him that the battery is dead, no need to tell him that you were to groggy to pick up the phone." Speed replied amused.

"Speed!" he growled. "That's not funny!"

Speed just laughed. "Oh but it is, believe me." Knowing that he shouldn't annoy his boss too much, he became serious again. "It's a beach victim again."

"Okay, this is it. This is officially a bad morning now."

"Yeah, let me give you the address and I'll see you two there."

Reaching for a sheet of paper and a pencil, Horatio wrote down the address quickly. "We'll be there in 30."

"Okay, see ya later H and oh...don't forget to recharge the battery," he snickered.

"Funny," Horatio rolled his eyes and ended the call.

"What's funny?" a sleepy voice next to him asked and soon a petite blonde was snuggling up to him.

"Speed is. I picked up your phone by accident and he's having the time of his life."

"Why did you pick up my phone?" she asked but then it hit her. "You picked up my phone and Speed was on the phone?" she shrieked and sat up.

So this was a way to wake her up. Interesting. He had tried a lot of things during their time together, but nothing had ever really worked. If Calleigh was asleep, it was pretty difficult to wake her up again. "Uh-huh," he nodded slowly. "We were both confused, but then...let's say…things made sense for both of us."

"So he knows that we..," she pointed at him and herself.

"Yes, he does," Horatio nodded again and got out of bed. "And he said that they're all happy for us, Delko will lose some money and that if I hurt, they'd try to kill me...or whatever comes close to that," he chuckled.

"That sounds like them," she sighed and followed him. "So do you really think they're happy?" she asked when she entered the bathroom behind him.

"Absolutely. Alexx will be thrilled and the boys will tease us in their oh so lovely way. There's no need to worry about them, Cal."

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she took a deep breath. "It was about time to tell them anyway, right?"

"Mhm, it was," he replied and started to stroke her back.

Enjoying his gentle ministrations, Calleigh felt no need to leave his embrace. "So why did he call?"

"We have another beach victim and the team is already on its way. I told him that we'll be there in 30."

"30 minutes, huh? Well I guess we can only make it if we share the shower, don't you think?" she looked up and batted her eyelashes at him.

"Looking so innocent from the outside, but being so devilish inside," he grinned down at her. "I'm not sure if having a shower together won't be counterproductive, but it's worth a try."

Slapping his chest, she wiggled out of his embrace and stepped into the shower. Once inside, she turned on the water and grinned at him. "It's a good thing that I'm not the only devil here. So are you going to just stand there and watch me Handsome, or will you come in and help me with my back?"

"I love being your knight in shining armour," he laughed and quickly joined her in the shower.

As chance would have it, it had taken Horatio and Calleigh a little longer than 30 minutes to arrive at the crime scene and the smirks that Speed and Eric were giving them, when they got out of the Hummer, told them that Speed had spread the news about their relationship. Not that they minded though, in a way, they were relieved that they were out in the open. Of course, playing hide and seek and keeping their relationship private had also been nice, but sharing it with their friends and family was even better.

"Horatio, I really hope you recharged the battery," Frank greeted them in his typical way.

It looked like Speed had actually told him this little lie and Frank had believed him as well. "I can assure you Frank, that my battery is now full," he smirked and winked at Calleigh who was making her way to the boys.

Not really getting what was going on, Frank just furrowed his brows and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "crazy scientists and their weird kind of humour".

"So what do you have for me?" Horatio became all business again. "Another beach victim? Is it our killer?"

"It definitely looks like it," Frank nodded. "Young, blond woman, no weapon so far and no witnesses."

"Wonderful, so who found her?" Horatio asked and they both walked to the victim where Alexx was busy working.

"Life guard actually. He was early today and wanted to climb on his tower when he almost stumbled over her."

"And here I thought that I had a lousy start in the morning," H commented lightly.

"I think he won by length," Frank chuckled. "There's one thing though that is different from our other victims."

"Which is?" H asked intrigued.

"He left us a message."

"A message?" Now this was a surprise.

"Yep, have a look at her," Frank nodded and pointed at the victims stomach.

The moment he saw the message, Horatio's blood ran cold. The perp had used the victim's blood to write his message, a message that Horatio understood all too well.

"We have no idea who he's talking to though," Frank interrupted his thoughts. "I mean "Too Late Childe"…that could be anyone. Is the victim this childe? Or someone else? I actually can't think of anything."

But Horatio could. He knew the meaning. He knew exactly who he was dealing with. "Yes that's pretty weird," he agreed with Frank. "He's probably playing some crazy game. I'm sure we'll find out."

"It definitely is a crazy one, Horatio. And look at the word "childe" who uses such a word in our days?"

Oh Horatio knew many of them, but he didn't want to share this information with Frank. "Maybe he's into history? As I said, we'll find out Frank," he patted the other man's shoulder and crouched down next to Alexx. "Same COD as always?"

"I can't say for sure, but it looks like it. Time of Death was in the early morning…"

"I'm sure we'll find a stamp on her and the club will be Silent Sinners," Horatio mused and shook his head.

"We need to stop this animal, Horatio. He's spinning out of control."

"I know," he nodded. He quickly looked around and saw that Frank was talking to the life guard again. "Meet me in my office once we're back. I'm afraid that I'll have to tell the team about our guy here."

"I'll be there," she stated and squeezed his arm. "It's about time you tell them," then she couldn't help but smile, "and it's about time that you and Cal made the last step." This was typically Alexx. The world could fall around them; she would still have this momma bear attitude and be happy for her grown children.

"I see that I need to talk with Speed about being a chatterbox," he rolled his eyes theatrically. "I'll see you later, Alexx," he patted her shoulder and stood up to see his team. With any luck, they might find a lead today.

When Horatio closed the door to his office behind him, his team was already waiting for him. A difficult path was lying ahead of him, but after today's new development he had to come clean. Alexx was smiling reassuringly at him; little did she know that she was also going to be surprised like the rest of the team. "Thank you all for coming here," he greeted them and leaned against his desk. "The reason of this meeting is the newest development in our beach case." Seeing their nods, he continued. "I think you all read the message on the last victim's body."

"We certainly did," Speed nodded and the others agreed. "I thought that we might do a handwriting examination, but then again, I don't think that we have that many samples from writing on bodies."

"But it's still worth a try. I mean, what else do we have?" Eric chimed in.

"This is certainly a good idea, but I don't think that we'll find a match there. Actually, it's unnecessary, since I know who our killer is."

A long silence followed and the team was staring at their boss. Calleigh was the first one to recover. "What...what do you mean…you know who he is?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, but…a few weeks ago, Alexx and I found out who…or rather what our killer is; he's a vampire," he dropped the first bomb.

"A vampire!" Speed exclaimed. "Damn, this makes sense. No blood on the crime scene, the brutal killings. I knew that those creatures were lowli-"

"Tim!" Alexx interrupted him, before he could say something stupid.

"What?" he asked back and then realized what he had almost said. "I'm sorry H…I didn't mean it...well…I didn't mean you, but those creepy kinds of vampires who are…well…uh…"

Horatio just pressed his lips together. He had expected such a reaction, especially from Tim. "It's okay…I can't say that I'm always proud of my kind." Did those words hurt? Yes they did, but he couldn't blame them. This special vampire was particularly cruel. "Anyway, as I said we have to deal with a vampire."

"So no prints, no blood…nothing will help us, since he's already dead," Eric summed it up.

"True," Horatio acknowledged.

"But how can we find him? I mean…we have to stop him somehow," Calleigh said urgently.

"You've said that you know the vampire Honey," Alexx chimed in and eyed her "eldest". "What exactly do you mean by that?" He had never told her that he knew this vampire personally, she knew that for sure.

"Just that. I know him, since…he's the one who turned me," he dropped the second bomb.

Alexx was never at a loss for words, but this time Horatio had made it.

"His message was directed at me. I'm his childe. It's the way vampires call their children, the ones they turned. He's playing with me as he'd done before."

"So he does this all because of you?" Speed asked shocked.

Horatio shook his head. "No, he doesn't. It's just funnier for him to play a game of cat-and-mouse with me. He would kill the women anyway, but since I'm working here, he seemingly enjoys it even more."

"So if he's the one who turned you, then where is he?" Eric asked.

"I have no idea," H just shrugged.

"How can you have no idea? Don't you live as a happy family together?" Speed snarked.

"No we don't," H snapped back.

"Boys, please," Alexx tried to calm them down. "This isn't the time to fight. Horatio please tell us about this guy, because I agree with Calleigh, we have to stop him."

Sighing, Horatio nodded. "I haven't seen this guy since the night he turned me. All those years back, I worked as a police officer in New York. I was working on several homicide cases just like the ones we're working on right now. I had tracked him down, neither knowing what I was dealing with nor that it was a trap." Just thinking about his stupidity all those years back made his blood boil. "He attacked me and tried to kill me. I thought I was going to die that night and in a way I did, but instead of killing me for good, he turned me against my will and left me lying there on my own."

"But this isn't the normal way, isn't it?" Alexx asked, enthralled by this story, a story she'd never heard before.

"No it's not. When you turn someone, you have to take care of them. You're very vulnerable in the first days and a danger to yourself and others. That's also a reason why it's not allowed to turn humans against their will."

"But didn't you tell me that you had a mentor?" Calleigh asked confused. If his mentor wasn't the one who turned him then who was it?

"I have a mentor, yes," Horatio nodded. "She's not the vampire who turned me though, obviously. She'd found me after Gabriel had left."

"Gabriel?"

Horatio smiled lightly. "The one who turned me."

"What a perfect name for a vampire, shouldn't he be one of the good guys then?" Speed snorted.

"Normally, yes, but I think it's quite obvious that he isn't," Horatio smiled at Speed. "Anyway, she found me and became my mentor. She showed me everything I needed to know, for example how our society works, how I can control my other side, how to feed. If it wasn't for her, I would have gone insane."

"So if you don't know where he is, does she?" Calleigh asked and couldn't help but be a bit put out. Yes, he had told her about this mentor but never mentioned that this was a woman. And this woman had a great impact on her boyfriend's life. Maybe she was a bit jealous, well of course she was, even though she knew that she didn't have to be.

Horatio had lived long enough to notice the slight edge in her tone. "I'm not sure, but I'm going to ask her tonight. He's spinning out of control and I can't let this continue."

"Then I want to go with you," Calleigh stated.

He had expected that. Sometimes Calleigh was really easy to read. "I don't think that this is a good idea."

"Oh and why is that so?"

The others were clever enough not to interrupt the fight of stubbornness.

"Because I'm going to meet her in a vampire bar and I don't want you to go there," he explained her calmly and shook his head when she just huffed. "Please Cal, don't be difficult. A vampire bar is not exactly a wonderful place for a beautiful woman like you. Inside, you find good and bad ones and I certainly don't want to risk anything. That's why I'm taking the boys with me."

Their reactions couldn't have been any moiré different.

"YAY, nice vampire ladies," Eric grinned and clapped his hands.

"WHAT? No way I'm going there."

"Oh stop whining Speed," Eric grinned. "You always rant about why we never go to different clubs, now if this one isn't _different_ enough for you, I don't know what is." Looking at Horatio, he smiled at him. "We're in H, just tell us where to meet."

"But I said that I-"

"Now hush Speed. So?"

"I'll pick you up, you wouldn't find it anyway," Horatio chuckled at the boys' antics. "There are some rules, but I'll tell you once we're there, so you won't forget them."

"Very funny," Speed mumbled. Why did those things always happen to him?

"I'm still not happy with you Handsome," Cal pointed out. "I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, Sweetheart. Believe me I do. But I don't want to worry about you while we're there, okay? You'll meet her one day, I promise, but tonight is not the night." Giving her a peck on her cheek, he grinned at her. "I promise I'll make it up to you, okay?"

"Oh I know you will, Mr. Caine," she grinned and turned a little red, when she heard the others clear their throats. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Eric grinned. He was always open to such things. "So when will you pick us up, H?"

"11 pm."

"What? So late?"

"Well this means that you have to keep your beauty sleep a little shorter, man," Eric laughed. "Not that a long one would help anyway."

"Say that again, Delko and I will kick your-"

"Children, please. Honey are you sure that you want to take those two with you?" Alexx interrupted the fight.

"No, not really, but it's the only option I have." If they would behave like this tonight, they would surely be for the high jump. He really needed to give them a talk about manners in a vampire club or something bad might happen.

"We're not that bad," Eric exclaimed.

"No you aren't. You're worse," Cal poked out her tongue, which Eric quickly returned.

Horatio just rolled his eyes. "This is going to be a very long day…"

_tbc_


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! They really made my day. So you're looking forward to meet H's mentor, huh? Well you're going to meet her today. Let's see what you will think of her. I wish you all a merry Christmas and hope that you'll have a wonderful day with your loved ones.**

**Chapter 13**

"Okay, H. I have to admit that I really would have never found this place," Eric said when Horatio parked the car in front of a plain building. The ride had taken them into areas he'd never seen before and this meant something, since he was born in Miami. Speed must have felt the same way, because during the whole journey he had been pretty quiet in the car with practically no ranting about why this was a bad idea.

"Well that's the idea Eric," Horatio smiled at his passenger. "The community likes to stay on its own and a flashy exterior would only attract human party people."

"Like us," Speed mumbled quietly in the back of Horatio's SUV.

"Yes, like you," Horatio agreed. "And that's why you need to know some rules and follow them."

"You know that you're talking about Delko here, right?"

"Shut up, Speed," Eric shot back.

"Thank you for giving me a perfect example of the first rule," Horatio rolled his eyes. "No fights inside this building. No snarky comments, no fooling around, no nothing."

"Yeah, listen to that carefully, Delko."

"I'm not that bad," Eric huffed and Speed only snorted.

"Sure…"

"I mean it boys, this is important. I already told you that there are good and bad ones inside and the moment you walk through that door, they'll know that you're still happily alive. No need to get even more attention from them by acting like kids, okay?"

"Okay," Speed nodded, but didn't feel any better. "Are you sure that this is a good idea, H? I mean if we're that unwelcome there.."

"Actually, I thought the same," Eric agreed. This morning the sound of visiting a vampire club had been exciting; but the more he heard, the less exciting did it sound.

"You're not completely unwelcome there, you're just special. Which leads me to the second rule; no flirting with the vampire ladies."

"Is there are reason why you're especially looking at me?"

"Of course there is, Delko. I'm not the one who gets all goo goo eyes when he hears about those ladies. And I'm sure that H can flirt with them as much as he wants to...or…at least until Cal finds out and drags him out of this place."

"Funny, Speed," Horatio groaned. "But anyway, they'll try to flirt with you, it's in their nature. Try to look nonchalant, that's all I'm asking for. And last but not least, don't leave my side. As long as you're in my reach, you belong to me and they won't touch you. I promise you that."

"We could go hand in hand then," Eric joked.

"Yes this sounds exciting, Delko. Two gay humans and a vampire. Just perfect," Speed snarked, but couldn't stop grinning at the sight. "I guess they'll throw us out then."

"Maybe," Horatio grinned and reached for his keys. "So let the party begin."

"Hope we're not the main course. Thinking about it, Delko, have you ever watched the movie From Dusk Till Dawn?"

"No, why?"

"Ah, just being curious. Did you H?"

"Mhm, I did and all I can say that it wasn't necessarily far away from the truth."

"I thought so," Speed grinned and enjoyed it immensely to tease his Cuban friend.

"I hate you both," Eric stated and then stopped, when Horatio did the same. Neither had he realized that they had reached the door already, nor had he realized this hunk of a guy standing in front of it. "Uh..H.. I think this is your show time."

"Horatio, long time no see. And you also brought some guests," the bouncer smirked at the two nervous looking humans.

"Henry," Horatio nodded politely. "Indeed I brought some guests, they belong to me."

"And here I thought you brought some fresh meat for the ladies, they would've loved you for that, I'm sure."

Horatio just chuckled. Henry had always had a nice kind of humour. Too bad that Eric and Speed didn't know about it. "Maybe next time," he deadpanned and kept a perfectly straight face when he heard two sharp gasps.

"Sophia has been asking for you."

"That's good, because I need to talk to her."

"Good, then tell me the password please."

"Quod sumus, hoc eritis. Fuimos quandoque, quod estis." _(What we are, you will be. What you are, we've been once.)_

Opening the door, Henry stepped away to let them in. "Have a good night then my friends."

"I'm sure we will," Horatio smiled and motioned the boys to follow him. "Oh and before I forget, Henry, would you please be so kind to stop any vampire who wants to drag them out of here? They do have the tendency to attract…hmm...how to I put that nicely? Trouble?"

"Anything for you, Horatio," the bouncer nodded and winked at the two men. "Though I'm sure that you'd enjoy an encounter with one of our ladies. Or maybe more?"

Speed and Eric just looked at each other and blushed.

"Not tonight, Henry," Horatio laughed at the embarrassed boys and walked inside the club.

The light was dim as always, since the club didn't have any windows. Horatio had never liked this, but since some of the customers were allergenic when it came to sunlight, he had to live with it. Chandeliers and sconces were illuminating the interior as well as they could, but there were enough dark corners and sometimes it was better not to know what was going on there. "You coming?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yes," came the quick reply from both boys.

"Horatio, who's Sophia?"

"The woman I told you about, my mentor," Horatio explained and rolled his eyes when he saw that Eric was eying one of the ladies on the bar. "It's like herding cats with him."

Speed just turned around and rolled his eyes. "Delko," he hissed, "come here."

"H, man, you never told us how beautiful these ladies are," the Cuban grinned when he stopped next to the others.

"Just think about the movie…ah.. I forgot.. you didn't watch it," Speed smirked evilly.

"Would someone please tell me what the heck happens in this mysterious movie?"

"Oh can I? Can I?"

"If you want to," Horatio shrugged and acted as he wouldn't listen to them. He couldn't help but smile though, when Eric's face became significantly ashen after Speed had told him about this special out of the way bar with the beautiful ladies inside and the fact that all truckers never made it out alive again.

"I think.. I think I'll pass this time," Eric gulped.

"I thought so," Horatio nodded. "Okay, listen to me. Sophia is the leader of this society, okay? This means she's an old vampire and a strong one, you understand? She's just like any other woman, so please refrain from asking her how old she is, because I'm not sure how her reaction will be like."

"Do you know how old she is?" Eric asked nonetheless, which resulted into a "He's hopeless" comment from Speed.

"I do, but I won't tell you. And now stop asking me, but do as I said, okay?" Seeing the two nods, he turned around again and made his way through the crowd into a more secluded area of the club. He nodded at one of the other vampires who was acting like a guard and then stopped in front of a woman, who was sitting in a very comfortable looking wing chair. A young man was serving her some food, while others were talking quietly to each other. As always, he bowed his head and waited for her to acknowledge him.

Not knowing what to do, Eric and Speed stood beside Horatio and couldn't help but being in awe by this woman. She didn't look older than mid-thirty; she had wavy, long brown hair and most impressive green eyes.

Sophia had known the moment Horatio had entered the club that he was here and not alone this time. This was a surprise in both cases, so she was curious about the reason why. She could already think of something, but she wanted to hear it from him. Smiling at his submissive gesture, she waved at the other people in the room to leave. "Horatio," she said softly and held out her hand, which Horatio readily kissed. "I'm surprised to see you here and with two guests as well."

"That I did," he looked at her. "They belong to me."

"I see," she accepted his well chosen words and then looked at the two rather uncomfortable looking men. "And what are your names then? It's so rare that Horatio brings two so happily alive and good looking men into this club."

Now they knew what Horatio meant when he talked about flirting women, this woman sure knew how to have her way around men. Taking a quick look at Horatio, who just nodded, they introduced themselves.

"I'm Eric..," he wasn't sure if he should say his full name, but since they all seemed to call each other by just their first name, he didn't see a reason why he should give more away.

Speed, who had the same thought, did the same. "My name is Tim."

"Tim and Eric, two strong names, for two strong men. I like that," she smiled at them and if it hadn't been for Horatio's presence, they both might have melted at that. "So," she reached for a goblet and turned her attention towards Horatio again. "What can I do for you little one?"

He hated it when she called him like that, but that was the price you had to pay when your mentor was a woman and a couple of hundred years older than you. Thankfully the boys refrained from any comment, at least for now. "I need to talk to you in an urgent matter, Sophia," he answered her truthfully.

"An urgent matter, I see," she mused and took a sip of her drink. "And what would this urgent matter be?"

Horatio knew her games all too well. "Gabriel is back."

"Gabriel is back, I see. And what makes you think that, Horatio?"

"He left me a message on his latest victim," he stated. "The message was, "Too late childe".

Furrowing her brows, she delicately tipped her finger against her lower lip. "This is a very interesting message. So why are you here then?"

"We need to find him, but we don't know where he's hiding. He killed innocent young women, like he did back in New York."

"Yes, but why are you _here_, Horatio?"

Oh he hated when she did that. "Because," he really needed to stay calm, "you either know where he is, or you can find it out."

"So can you, my dear Horatio," she pointed out. She knew that he was frustrated, he was very easy to read for her. "So tell me Horatio, do you want to find him because he killed innocent humans, or because of a more personal reason?"

He knew that she already knew the answer to that. And she also always knew when he was lying. In a very weird way, this woman was like a mother to him, at least in his vampire life. "Both," he admitted.

"And this is the reason why I can't help you. You want to find and kill him, I can't allow you that. Find him on your own and bring him here, we'll deal with his punishment then."

That was not the answer he had hoped for. "But Sophia-"

"No," she interrupted him immediately, "you heard what I said. Find him on your own. All I can tell you that he's in Miami and won't leave the town. I don't know exactly where he is, you're on your own Horatio. You have your two friends here, who'll be a wonderful help to you, I'm sure. And let's not forget this beautiful new lady in your life, right?" she drawled. She knew everything about Horatio, he was her very special little one after all. The youngest of her vampire children, even though she hadn't made him.

Horatio dropped his gaze and relented. "Yes," he murmured.

"Good then," she waved at the others to come back. "So do you want stay here with your friends for a little while?" she smiled at the boys. "I'm sure that some of our ladies would enjoy their company."

"No, we're leaving," Horatio stated and didn't even give the others a chance to answer the question. "Thank you for your time," he nodded politely and kissed her hand again.

"For you always my dearest," she smiled. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon."

"Maybe," Horatio just mumbled and motioned the others to leave.

Once outside the club, the boys took a deep breath. "My God, H…what was that?" Speed exclaimed.

"This was Sophia in a playful mood."

"Then I don't want to see her in a lousy one," Eric muttered. "But my, isn't she a goddess? I don't think that I've ever seen a woman that beautiful."

"I hate to admit it, but I have to agree with Delko here."

"She is," Horatio agreed. "She looks good for 800 years, huh?" he winked at them and grinned when their jaws dropped open.

"Whoa…800 years? She surely knows how to stay in good shape."

"She sure does," H just nodded.

"But she didn't help us at all," Speed pointed out.

"Not really, no," H shook his head. "But we'll talk about that tomorrow with the others. I need to think this through. And to be honest, I'm quite tired."

"Yeah, me too. I think it's her aura or something. It's hard not to get pulled into it," Speed said and climbed into the car.

"I bet men are like moths and she's the flame," Eric summed it up. "I have no idea how you can do that, H. Honestly, no red-blooded man is able to resist her."

Starting the engine, Horatio pulled out of the parking lot. "Who said I am?"

_tbc_


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hope you all had a good start into the new year. **

**Chapter 14**

"I can honestly say that I've never ever been to such a club in my life before," Eric told the others and opened the small, private fridge in Horatio's office. Speed and the two girls were waiting for their leader who'd been cornered by Frank a few minutes before and now he was entertaining the ladies with some details of the night before.

"So how was it?" Alexx asked curiously and accepted the drink.

"With one word? Spooky."

"Yeah," Eric nodded at Speed's statement. "It was really weird, but also…interesting. It's hard to explain actually."

"There are no windows, just dim light, music I've never heard before…"

"And very pretty girls," Eric smirked.

"Now why doesn't it surprise me that this was interesting for you?" Calleigh smiled at her friend. She hadn't talked to Horatio about last night. She hadn't heard him coming into bed last night and in the morning he had told her that he wanted to discuss it at work. So she knew nothing about it.

"But he's right," Speed supported his friend. "They really are and they know exactly what they want and how to get it, if you know what I mean."

"Oh yes, especially this Sophia," Eric smirked, but lost it when he saw Calleigh's face. "I didn't mean it that way, Cal. Don't worry. She didn't flirt with him…or..well..he didn't flirt with her anyway." He still wasn't quite sure about Sophia's little game last night.

"That's true, she even called him her little one," Speed laughed. "Wonder why that is."

"It's because I'm the youngest of her vampire children," Horatio's voice filled the room. "And it's nice to see that you two are already filling in the ladies," he reproached them. "So what did they talk about?"

"Beautiful girls," Calleigh summed it up and looked at Horatio expectantly.

"Ah, the important facts I see," he nodded and said down on the edge of his desk. "Well if the guys say that there were some then they're probably right."

"Ha you said that yourself, especially about So-"

Accidentally, Speed rammed his elbow into Eric's side.

"What's wrong with you?" Eric hissed in pain.

"It should rather be, what's wrong with _you_, Delko," Speed rolled his eyes at his friend. Sometimes Delko acted like a bull in a china shop.

Alexx just pressed her lips together, counted till ten and then asked, "Why don't you tell us about your conversation with Sophia? I think that's the reason why you were there anyway, right?" This wasn't the time to talk about beautiful women in front of Horatio's girlfriend, who could be a very stubborn southern woman.

"Right," H nodded and gave her a thankful smile. "The thing is, we pretty much didn't get any information from her. All we know is that he's in Miami, but that's all. She told me to find him by myself and with the help of my friends. I'm not allowed to kill him, but have to bring him to her."

Furrowing her brows, Alexx said, "I don't see the point in that. Why can't you kill him when he kills innocent women?"

"I have to agree with Alexx here," Cal chimed in. This sounded suspicious. She'd never met that woman, but she didn't like her; and this wasn't only because of the connection she had to Horatio, though this surely had a part in it.

"You see, a vampire can't just kill another vampire. Just like a human can't kill another human. We also have laws, different from yours, but still laws. Sophia is the leader of this society and her word is law. When I bring him to her it's definitely possible that she'll kill him, but she won't allow me to do that on my own."

"So even though she won't help you and risks that even more women will get hurt, you obey her?" Cal raised her brows and wasn't sure if she'd heard correctly. This was certainly not the Horatio Caine she knew.

"I have to, she's my mentor," he nodded. "I'm sure we can find him on our own."

"I'm not sure H, we haven't found him in all those months yet, why should we now?" Speed asked.

Not having a real answer to that question, Horatio just sighed. "I just know."

"Great," Cal groaned. "Your so-called mentor won't help us and we have no lead. This is just wonderful."

"I also expected a different outcome from this evening, okay?" Horatio snapped at her and quickly closed his mouth when he realised that. "I'm sorry Cal, but believe me when I say that I'm as frustrated as you are. Maybe even more because I've been waiting for this opportunity for 160 years."

"I think we all need to calm down. There's no need to get on each others throats. If she doesn't want to help us, okay fine, we've always found a way, haven't we?" Alexx talked insistently to them. "I'm sure that he'll make a mistake. Sooner or later he _will_ make a mistake and that's when our time comes."

"Why don't we review all the evidence we have on him again?" Speed proposed. "Maybe we overlooked something." Just like Alexx, he didn't want to see anyone fighting, especially not Horatio and Calleigh. They only worked well together, when they were on good terms.

Even Eric realized that his babbling about Sophia hadn't been perfectly timed. "I think that's a good idea. I also think that we should start now." With that he stood up and looked at the others.

Alexx and Speed stood up as well. "I'll have another look at the autopsy reports," Alexx announced, while Horatio and Calleigh stayed where they were.

"Eric and will look at the traces," Speed said and just waited for Horatio's nod so that they could start working.

"Do that, I'll join you in a moment."

After the three had left, Horatio rubbed his forehead. He hated this case more and more. He felt useless and now he was arguing with his girlfriend as well. Sometimes he really wondered what he did to deserve that.

Calleigh hated fighting with him as much as he did, but she was frustrated and, if she had to admit to herself, a little insecure. What could she offer Horatio? She wasn't a vampire, she was surely not as beautiful as this other woman and Horatio had known this woman for God only knew how many years. Not to forget that they seemed to have a very close relationship as well. Sighing she shook her head. She shouldn't think like this, but she couldn't help it. "Horatio?"

"Mhm?" he mumbled and massaged his temples.

"What is she like?"

He gave her a curious look. "Who?"

"Sophia."

Did they really have to talk about this right now? Seemingly yes, because Cal was looking expectantly at him. But not only that, she also looked afraid. Afraid of his answer? He wasn't sure. "She is…hard to describe." He tried to put his thoughts into words. "Special, in her own way, you know?"

"To be honest, no, I don't know," she answered him truthfully.

"Cal," he gave her a small smile and hopped from his desk. "She's a special woman in my life, because I owe her my life." He slowly walked to the couch and sat down next to her. "She has a great impact on my life, but she doesn't rule it. It's not like I'd jump from a house, because she wants me to. True, that wouldn't be a difficult thing to do," he joked, "but I wouldn't."

Nodding, she accepted this explanation. "The boys were quite taken with her, babbling and awing; even Speed and this means a lot."

"Let's just say that she knows how to wrap men around her finger. It's very easy to be enthralled by her charm, if you don't know her, that is."

"So is she that beautiful?" she asked, hoping that the answer would reassure her.

"I promised you to be honest with you, so all I can say is, yes, she is beautiful." Before she could say something though, he continued. "But not as beautiful as you are. She is a cold beauty, you know? Living for almost 800 years makes you cold, especially if you stop living in the human world. You, however, are a caring and lovely woman. You don't enjoy playing mind games, you give me an answer straight ahead. Heck, you even slapped me," he laughed. "There are not a lot of people who'd dare to do that."

Blushing, she looked down. "I never apologized for that."

"You don't have to," he stroked her cheek. "You brought me back and I needed that." He gently put his finger under her chin, so she'd look at him. "There's no need to worry, Cal. I neither love her, nor am I in love with her. She's my mentor, my teacher. She helped me through some rough times. She's something like a friend, but I can't really find a word for it. That's what I mean with "she's special"."

"The only time when we acted as man and woman is almost 60 years ago. I knew I couldn't turn to someone else. I was so beside myself that I was afraid to hurt someone and she knew that as well. She may be a woman, but she's stronger as I am and I felt safe due to that. I knew that I could let myself go and that I didn't have to worry about her. After that one night, we never repeated it again and I don't want to. I'm happy with my life right now, thanks to you. There's no way that I'd let her come between us. So please believe me when I say that I love you."

Calleigh was pretty much overwhelmed by his confession. She was quite sure that none of her former boyfriends had ever spoken so honest to her about past girlfriends/encounters and she loved him for that. He was telling her the truth, she could see that in his eyes and this reassured her fragile heart immensely. "Oh Horatio," she sighed and gave him a small smile.

Returning the smile, he leaned in and kissed her. "You're mine Calleigh and I intend to keep you. So don't worry about other women, they're the past; you're my present and hopefully my future. If you still want to that is."

"Of course I do, Silly," she grinned and gave him another kiss. "Sorry for being insecure, but hearing her name and how beautiful she is, just hit the wrong spot."

"I understand that," he nodded. There was no need to hold that against her. She had apologized and they were on good terms again. Now he just needed to find his nemesis and everything would be perfect.

Taking a deep breath, she sat up again. "This is probably a weird moment, but I totally forgot to tell you that I'm meeting my dad tonight, so I won't come over. Is that okay for you?"

"Of course this is okay for me," he reassured her. "We don't have to see each other every day." Laughing at her scandalized face, he shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I love it when you're close to me, but we still have our own lives. I'm probably here for most of the evening and night anyway, so have a great time with your father. How's he holding up anyway?"

"Pretty good; that's what we're going to celebrate tonight."

"That's great to hear, Sweetheart. I hope he'll stay on this road."

"Me too," she nodded and got up from the couch. "I better take a look at the evidence as well, I'm sure we'll find something."

"I'll be down in a moment, there's just one more thing I have to sign." With that he got up as well and walked to his desk

"Perfect." She walked to the door, opened it and then turned to him with a smile again. "Oh and Handsome?"

"Yeah?" he looked up from the file.

"I love you too."

Smiling, he winked at her and reached for a pen to sign the file. He really hoped that they would find something, so this nightmare would come to an end. The case was taking a toll on his team and this needed to stop. He didn't want to have anymore victims thanks to this poor excuse of a vampire. He'd sworn himself to catch this guy 160 years ago and he'd do anything to stop him.

_tbc_


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews. Sophia hasn't been all that helpful at all, but the team wouldn't be the team we know, if they'd stop their search for Gabriel, huh? Let's see if they can find him or…if he will find them in the end. **

**Chapter 15**

True to his words, Horatio had stayed at the lab until deep into the night. His neck felt like they had reviewed every evidence concerning the beach case and they actually had. Long after Calleigh had gone to her meeting with her father, the three men had stayed behind, hoping against hope to find a new lead that would break the case wide open. In the end, after hours of work, they had found the one or other thing but nothing really interesting. He had sent the boys home and after some debating, he'd gone home as well. Hoping that with two fresh eyes he would probably find something.

Yawning, he reached for his coffee cup and took a sip of the dark liquid. "It's like running in circles," he mumbled to himself when he turned another page of the file lying in front of him. "He can't be that good," he muttered and massaged his neck. Looking up from his file, he looked out of the window and saw that Speed had arrived in his lab. Glancing at his watch, he grinned to himself. "Wow, he's more or less on time, even though he had a long night." He probably wanted to close this case as much as anyone else did.

Taking another sip, he realized that his cup was empty. "Oh great, it's only eight in the morning and I already finished my first cup," he rolled his eyes. "By the end I'm going to have more coffee in my body than blood." Getting up from his chair, he grabbed his cup and walked down the stairs. "Morning Speed," he smiled at the man when he exited the Trace Lab.

"Morning H," the man mumbled. "Your second cup already?" he pointed at the item in Horatio's hand.

"I'm afraid so," H looked down.

"I hope this doesn't have the same effect on you as cocaine has on our southern belle."

Laughing, he shook his head. "Don't worry, it won't." This was a running gag within the team, because Calleigh had been quite a sight that day. She was always very talkative, but on this day, she had taken it to an extreme.

"Good, I'm not sure if I want to see you flying around or something," Speed smirked.

"I already told you that I can't fly," Horatio shot back playfully and entered the break room.

"Not yet H, not yet," Speed replied. "Keep up with the caffeine in your body and we'll talk later."

"Who'll talk about what?" Eric entered the break room behind them.

"H and me about him flying around."

"I thought you aren't able to fly?"

Horatio just groaned. "Could we please end this discussion and start a new one?"

The boys just smirked at each other. Sometimes it was very easy to pull Horatio's leg. "Sure, just give us an interesting topic."

"Anything but vampires and their ability to fly."

"Not sure if we can find something interesting then," Eric shrugged and re-filled the coffee machine.

"Didn't you and Calleigh arrive together today?" Speed asked and played with the tea bag in his cup.

"No," Horatio shook his head. "She didn't come over last night."

"Oh?" Eric looked up. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Nooo," Horatio sighed. "She met her father last night and since I wasn't sure when…or if I would go home, we agreed that she wouldn't come over."

"Okay, but this doesn't explain why she isn't here yet," Speed pointed out.

"Who isn't here yet?" they heard another voice behind them.

"Calleigh," Eric answered and sat down on the couch.

"She wasn't at your place last night?" Alexx looked at Horatio questioningly.

Eric reached for the newspaper. "No, they agreed that there was no need to, because Horatio probably wouldn't make it home."

Horatio gave him an outraged glare. "I can talk for myself, you know?"

Speed just snickered.

As did Alexx, but then she became more serious again. "Okay this explains why she didn't arrive with you, but not why she hasn't arrived yet."

"She probably overslept," Eric mumbled and searched for something interesting in the news section.

"We're talking about Calleigh here, Delko," Speed sat down next to him.

Speed and Alexx were right, this wasn't like her. Reaching for his cell, he checked if he had any missing calls, but hadn't. "I'm going to give her a call," he stated and hit the speed dial; the others were watching him closely.

It only took a few rings until someone picked up on the other side and from one moment to the other, Horatio's world turned upside down.

"_Hello, my childe,"_ a well known voice greeted him and for the first time in years, Horatio felt fear.

"What have you done to her?"

"_Me? Nothing," _Gabriel chuckled. _"Could I ever hurt a human?"_ he drawled.

"Where is she, Gabriel?" Horatio growled lowly, which made the others gasp.

"_She's in very capable hands, I can assure you my childe."_

"I'm not your childe," Horatio snapped back.

"_Oh but you are, you little pup. I'm your maker and that makes you my childe."_

Gritting his teeth, Horatio tried to stay calm, but this was getting harder by every passing minute. "Where is she, Gabriel?" he asked again.

"_With me of course," _he laughed humourlessly. _"You're talking with me via her cell phone, did you already forget that? My, aren't you the most famous CSI? Looks like it's very easy to impress those humans,"_ he said snidely.

"She is mine, Gabriel. She belongs to me."

"_Well but right now she's with me, so keep this stupid nonsense to yourself. I have to admit though that you really know how to pick out the nice ones. She's beautiful," _he said lecherously. _"She smells of you, but not for long, don't worry."_

"If you hurt her I'm going to kill you," Horatio growled and the longer they talked, the more he changed into his other nature. His eyes become icier and his voice got deeper.

"_Funny, my childe, as far as I know, I'm already dead. So please, you're boring the hell out of me," _he yawned. _"If this was all you had to say I'm going to say goodbye, because I have more pleasurable things in mind than talking to you."_

"GABRIEL," Horatio shouted. "If you hurt her in any way, then have a good look at the moon today, because you'll never see it shine again." With that he quit the call and glared at the other people in the room. "Get her cell traced and you better have some good news for me when I come back," he threatened.

Eric and Speed just nodded quickly. They had never seen him like this and they felt no need to anger him any further. "Y-yes.."

Alexx, who'd had seen him once or twice like this, couldn't help but asking. "Where are you going?"

Shooting her a glare, he reached for the door handle and opened it. "I'm going to get some answers."

Gulping, Speed looked at the others. "I've never, ever seen him like this," he whispered.

"Me neither," Eric agreed.

"It takes a great deal to anger him like this and I can only advice you to have some answers for him once he's back. This is Calleigh we're talking about, she's one of us. We can't let her be the next victim."

The boys looked at each other and communicated without words. "There's no other case today."

"I'm going to trace her cell," Speed stood up. "Delko, go see her father, we have to find out when and where Gabriel kidnapped her. His house or hers might be our original crime scene."

"You got it, Speed."

Alexx watched the two men leaving. "Please let her be okay; don't let her become another victim," she prayed quietly. If Calleigh was hurt, dead…or turned, they'd not only lose her today, but Horatio as well. She didn't want to think of the mess he would cause if he snapped. It'd be living hell.

Horatio stepped out of his car and slammed the door shut. He was angry, he was afraid for Calleigh's safety, he was livid…in other words: the volcano was just before erupting. With strong steps he made his way to the front door and knocked loudly. "I know you're here so open up the fu**ing door!" Swearing was so not Horatio Caine, but the vampire handled things quite differently.

A very annoyed house owner opened the door. "What the hell do you want? Are you out of your mind, little one?" she hissed quietly.

Horatio just made his way inside the house. "Where is he? Where is he hiding?" he demanded loudly.

Sophia shot him a cold glare and closed her front door. "Lower your voice."

Horatio was neither in the mood to listen to her, nor did he have time for games. "Where is he?" he stepped closer and showed his fangs.

Sophia stayed where she was, she would never back away from a pup. Instead, she pushed her hands on her hips and tried to stare him down.

"He's got what is mine," Horatio growled and took another step closer. "Answer me! Or I'm going to make you." His rage made him beyond caring and so he reached for her.

Inside, Sophia wanted to laugh at the poor attempt, but outside she was very angry. When he tried to grab her, she showed him exactly what she was capable of and seconds later, it was Horatio who was pressed against the wall and a very angry vampire lady literally jumping into his face. "Don't you dare to talk to me like this, Horatio Caine," she growled quietly and flashed her teeth at him. "Don't you dare to treat me like that. I'm your mentor and you _will_ treat me with the respect I deserve."

When he tried to escape her grasp, she pressed him even harder against the wall, which made him hiss in pain. "Sit down on the couch, little one and we can talk. If you won't calm down, I will make you. Do I make myself clear?" She was four times older than he was and he wouldn't stand a chance against her if she was serious. "Did I make myself clear?" she asked again, a little more threatening this time when he didn't answer.

"Yes," he hissed.

"Good," she nodded and let go of him. He was lucky that she was his mentor and therefore had something like a soft spot for him. Otherwise he'd know exactly what it would feel like to treat an elder with disrespect. "Sit down."

Horatio gave her one last look and then did as he was told. Now he not only felt angry, but also ashamed for his behaviour. Looking down, he tried to calm himself and clear his mind.

"So what's going on, Horatio?" Sophia asked and it was still easy to detect in her voice that she was anything but happy with him at this moment.

"He's got her," he whispered.

Rolling her eyes at him, she went into it. "Who has who?"

"Gabriel. He has Calleigh. He's got what is mine," the anger came back.

Ah, so there was the problem. "I see."

"I see? This is all you can say? He's going to kill her or even worse turn her against her will," Horatio raised his voice again and snapped his mouth shut when she raised her brows.

"We've already talked about your tone, Horatio Caine," she said calmly. "How do you know that he got her?"

"Calleigh didn't come to work this morning, so the team and I got worried. I called her number and Gabriel picked up."

Nodding, she accepted his explanation. "Okay. Did you tell him that she's yours?"

"Yes! Of course I did. And he just laughed and said that he doesn't care about it."

Well this was certainly not good. If vampires staked their claims by using a sentence like "she's mine" or "she belongs to me" no other vampire was allowed to come close to that person. This was an unwritten law and only a few were stupid enough to break it.

"Where is he, Sophia?" Horatio interrupted her inner musings.

"Horatio I-"

"No, don't give me excuses. You _know_ where he is, you always know everything about everyone. Where is he?" he tried to reach her conscience. When she didn't reply, he sighed. "Listen, I know you always say that I need to find him on my own, because only this will give me closure. But this isn't about me alone any longer, this is about Calleigh. You probably don't know any longer what it feels like to care for anyone."

"I do know what it feels like," she snapped at him.

"Then tell me where he is," he countered and stood up from the couch again.

"You know that I'm not allowed to do that, little one," she pressed her lips together and looked at him.

"I know you aren't, just give me a hint; that's all I'm asking for, Sophia, please. I love her and I can't lose her."

This took her by complete surprise. "You…you love her?" Until now she'd thought of Calleigh as a play toy for Horatio's amusement.

Horatio furrowed his brows. "Yes, yes I do. Please Sophia, help me."

She'd always had a hard time to say no to this baby blue eyes and she hated herself for being so weak. Before he could touch her, she turned her back to him and walked to a small dresser. There she opened a drawer and pulled out two items. "I don't know if he's still there, but he's claimed a small warehouse, just outside the city. It's about three miles up north from our annual meeting point. You won't miss it, I'm sure." She handed him the two items.

Realizing what this meant, Horatio was more than surprised. "You're giving me permission?"

"I probably should have done that years ago," she stroked his cheek. "I hope it's not too late now."

"Thank you," he gave her a small smile and kissed the inside of her hand. "I'll make you proud, I promise." He quickly tucked away the items.

"I know you will," she smiled at him. "And now, don't lose anymore time. I can feel that she's still alive, but I don't know for how long."

Horatio didn't question her words, he just nodded. "I won't, thank you." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left the house.

Sophia just walked to the window. "Go and find what's yours Horatio," she said softly and watched the man, who she had hoped would be hers one day, leave.

_tbc_


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey there, thank you for your reviews again and to all the people who added this story as their favourite. Of course I wouldn't mind hearing from you lots as well *hint hint*. So we're definitely close to the end of the story, only two more (including this one). Hope you enjoy. **

**Chapter 16**

Speed turned away from the small hill and walked back to the other men. They had found the warehouse Sophia had been talking about quite easily. His cell phone search had been unsuccessful. Gabriel must have shut down the device completely and so it had been impossible to track him down. Eric's search had been a little bit more successful, he had at least found out that Gabriel must have ambushed her on the way to her front door. Eric had, after all, found her car in her drive way. Thankfully, Horatio had found out about his hiding spot, because otherwise, they would have had empty hands.

They'd been observing the warehouse for some time now, but there hadn't been any movement. Something, which surprised Speed not at all, the sun was shining brightly and if Horatio's explanation about the so-called bad ones was true, Gabriel wouldn't come out until night. "So what is he doing now? Sleeping or something?" he asked no one in particular, when he hopped onto the Hummer's hood.

"He isn't asleep," Horatio stated and ran a hand through his hair. "He knows that I'm coming."

"How do you know?" Eric asked intrigued.

"Because that's what he wants. He wants me, I'm not sure why though. But this is the reason why he captured Calleigh. She isn't his usual type of victim."

"She's blond," Speed pointed out.

"Yes, but she was neither in this club, nor is she as young as the others."

"Don't let her hear that H," Eric couldn't help but chuckle. Seeing the two looks he received, he sighed. "I'm sorry. I know this isn't a funny situation."

"You could have fooled me," Speed said dryly and then looked at his boss again. "So what's the plan? Wait until dark? So we can capture him when he comes outside?"

Horatio shook his head. "No, we need to move before it's getting dark. First, we're going to find Calleigh and then you two will get her out."

"We can't leave you alone with him, H."

He gave Eric a small smile. "I appreciate your concern, but our priority is Calleigh. Once she's outside in the sun, he can't go after her."

"That's why we shouldn't wait until darkness," Speed made the connection.

"Exactly. I'm going to distract him, so you won't get harmed."

"And what…what are we going to do if he…you know…if he turned her? Won't that mean that we can't let her into the sun?" Eric asked timidly. He really didn't want to think about this possibility, but it was better to clear this up.

"This is our worst case scenario and I have to admit that I'm not sure of what to do then. I doubt that he turned her though. But if he did, we need to get her away from his influence."

"Do you have something with you? I mean…this...ring or something?"

"No," Horatio shook his head. "Only an elder can give it to her. I was lucky back then, because Sophia is one of them. The moment I see her, I'll know if he turned her or not. If he did, we need to keep her away from the sun. This," he gave them both an intense stare, "is your main assignment. Keep her safe."

"But if she's a vampire, she'll be stronger than the two of us," Speed pointed out. He had learned first hand how strong a vampire was and he didn't feel very confident about fighting with another one.

"She won't," Horatio smiled. "She's a baby and weak. Don't worry about it; I wouldn't ask you two for this, if I had any doubt about the outcome," he tried to reassure them. "And now let's go. I'm in for some trespassing and housebreaking."

"Don't let the Chief hear that," Eric smiled and followed his boss with Speed in tow.

Shooting him a smile over his shoulder, he winked at him. "A little adventure now and then makes life interesting in the first place."

"Says the one who's already dead," Speed snorted and stopped at the edge of the hill. It was too high to just jump down without risking breaking a few bones here and there. "Okay, how do we get down here, Mr. Adventure?"

Smirking at his comment, Horatio took another step forward. "I don't know about you, but I'll just," he took another step, "jump." And that he did.

"Horatio!" both men looked over the edge and took a deep breath when they saw him standing on the ground a few meters downwards like nothing had happened.

"Now that was.."

"..weird," Speed finished the sentence.

"Yes," Eric nodded.

Horatio just brushed away the dust from his pants and waved at them. Taking in his surroundings, he noticed a small path a few meters away, hidden behind some trees. He pointed into the direction and gave them a sign that he would wait for them. He didn't want to shout, because Gabriel would hear them then and he wanted to use the moment of surprise.

Speed and Eric followed his directions and soon enough they found the path. It was a bit tricky to follow, but better then jumping down the hill at least. When they reached the end, they quickly made their way to Horatio. "Okay H," Speed whispered. "What's our plan?"

"Since he has barricaded all the windows, I'm afraid we have to use the front door, so to say," he nodded at the door.

Looking at the massive looking thing, Eric pulled a face. "Let's hope that luck is on our side and that it's open."

"It actually would surprise me if it isn't," Horatio replied and walked to the door. Before he opened it though, there was one more thing to say. "In case he attacks you, use your guns. Aim at his head; this will give you enough time to get out. You understand?"

Both men nodded and made sure that they had their guns with them.

"Good. Let's get inside." He carefully opened the door and flinched when it creaked. Giving the boys one last look, he opened the door fully and made his way into the warehouse.

Inside it was completely dark, except of the small area that was now illuminated due to the open door. It took him a moment to adjust his eyesight, but once he did, he thought he saw some movement, not far away from them. "Calleigh?" he whispered softly, but didn't get a reply. Horatio gave the boys the 'follow me' sign and they all wandered quietly to the semi-dark spot. Their senses were on full alert and just because Horatio couldn't sense Gabriel at the moment, didn't mean that he wasn't there.

"Calleigh?" he asked again and heard a very light moan in response. "Calleigh!"

As fast as they could they hurried to the small figure and kneeled down next to her.

"Cal, Sweetheart," Horatio took her face in his. "We're here to get you out." He ran a soothing hand over her cheeks and let it travel down her neck. That's when he realized that she was bleeding and therefore it was her blood that he'd smelled when he'd entered the building. "Damn it," he growled.

Reaching for his flashlight, Speed tried to give them more light. "Shit," he hissed when he saw the blood running down Calleigh's neck. "Is she...is she..?"

"No, she isn't," Horatio shook his head. "But she's weak. Here, free her from the rope," he handed Eric his pocket knife.

"You got it, H;" the other man started his work.

"Come on, Sweetheart, open those beautiful eyes for me," he patted her cheek. "You need to stay awake, so we can help you."

"Horatio?" came the hoarse reply, and Horatio had never heard something sweeter.

"Yes, I'm here. Open those eyes for me and let me help you," he encouraged her and gave a soft smile when she finally opened her eyes.

"It hurts," she whispered and shed some tears.

"I know Honey, I know. Eric is getting rid of the rope, so you can move again."

"Mhm…," she just mumbled and closed her eyes again, not for long though, because Eric had freed one of her hands. "Ah!"

"I'm sorry Cal," Eric immediately apologized. "This is going to hurt a bit." After sitting there for so many hours without being able to move, it would actually hurt more than just 'a bit'.

"Calleigh, you're weak. He bid you."

"I know," she sobbed. "I asked him to stop, but..but.."

"Shh, I know you tried to stop him," Horatio tried to sooth her, but inside, his rage was boiling. "Cal you need to drink some of my blood, so the boys can get you outside, okay?"

"Noo…noo," she shook her head and tried to get away from him, which in result caused her even more pain when her sore flesh came in contact with the rough rope again.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have any other choice, it will stop the bleeding and gives you some strength," Horatio didn't back down, even though it broke his heart to see his girlfriend so distraught.

"Horatio knows what's best for you, Cal," Speed whispered. Funny how only a few months could change his opinion about this whole 'drink the blood stuff'. When Horatio had tried to rescue Alexx, he'd been in his face. Now he was actually encouraging it.

"Give Eric more light," Horatio ordered him and turned away a bit, when he bid his wrist. He still didn't like it when the others were watching him doing such things. "Okay Sweetheart and now open your mouth," he directed her lips to the small wound. "Don't think, just do."

Speed breathed out in relief when Calleigh started to drink after some struggling. "How is it going Delko?"

"Almost done, almost done," Eric mumbled and yelped in delight when the rope gave in. "Perfect," he grinned, but lost his smile when the ceiling lights came to life suddenly.

"Mhm, I seem to have missed the memo about this come together apparently."

Against his better judgement, Speed turned around and gulped. Weeks ago he and mostly Eric had been kind of curious about how a bad vampire would look like, now he wished he would have never seen it. This Gabriel was pale, but in a very unhealthy way. His skin was ashen in a way, the eyes were lifeless and the face looked more like a grimace than a human face. The long black hair and the rather scrawny build did their rest to underline the creepy appearance. "Horatio," he mumbled. "I think...we have a problem here."

Horatio gave Calleigh a small kiss on the lips and pressed his small wound together, so it would heal quickly. "Sorry to tell you, Gabriel," he stood up and faced the one who'd turned him. "But I think you aren't invited."

"Aww, that's hard on me," Gabriel drawled and stepped a bit closer, always aware that he wouldn't come too close to the open door and the sunlight.

"I know and that's why we take our leave now," he nodded at the boys, who reached for Calleigh's arms and legs so they could carry her outside.

"Oh really? I'm not sure if I can let you do that though," Gabriel took another step closer.

Horatio brought himself between his friends and their enemy. "I actually don't care what you think, Gabriel," he said and turned around to go.

"Well you could at least leave the blonde behind," Gabriel grinned. "She tastes so sweet, I could barely get enough of her."

Horatio just growled, but didn't turn around. "Go," he ordered the boys, so they would be safe outside.

"Ahh, no reply my childe? Does that mean that you haven't tasted her yet? And I was her first one?" He laughed boastfully. "How fitting. You've always been pathetic, I'm surprised that you're still around actually. You little softy. I know why I left you behind. Being together with such low lives," he spat. "You even crawled back to that sl*t you called your little wife."

This did it. If someone was speaking ill of him, he could care less. But if someone was speaking bad of his friends and most of all his family, he was going to pay. "Get her to the Hummer and give her something to drink. Don't come back, stay there and keep her safe," he growled at the boys and then turned around again.

"Horatio let's just leave," Eric called. "He's not worth it."

"Yes, leave you little wimp, just like you always do," Gabriel taunted him.

"Leave," he hissed at the boys and shut the door into their faces. Then he faced Gabriel again and put his hands on his hips. "This is going to end today."

Gabriel just smiled at the young vampire. They both knew that he was stronger and that Horatio wouldn't stand a chance against him. He hadn't 160 years ago, he wouldn't now. "Oh it will end today," he agreed with Horatio and lunged out. "It _will_ end."

Horatio quickly side stepped and moved away from Gabriel. "Why did you kidnap her?" he questioned, while they were circling each other. "It's not your style to keep them alive."

"I wanted to know how she tasted," Gabriel lunged out again, but Horatio ducked away again. "And I knew that you would come to find her."

"It was never about her, was it? It was about me."

"Do you really think that you're that special?" Gabriel laughed.

"You turned me, so you better answer the question," Horatio pointed out and started an attack.

"Smart a**," Gabriel growled lowly and parried Horatio's strike.

Outside the warehouse, Speed and Eric had made it to the Hummer. Calleigh was doing a bit better, but she was nowhere close to her normal self. Reaching for some water bottles, Eric sighed. "We need to help him."

"He told us to wait here, Delko. Believe me, I want to help him as well, but what can we do?" he opened the bottle for Calleigh and helped her drink. "Not so quickly Cal, or your stomach will protest," he guided the weak woman. At least the bleeding had stopped completely. But until her body would compensate the blood loss, it'd take some time.

"But still," Eric sighed and sat down next to Calleigh.

"You're getting old, Gabriel," Horatio took off his jacket and let it drop to the floor. "I thought you wanted to kill me? Finish the job?"

Gabriel just glared at him. "I don't care about you, but I want something you _have_. And I will get it," he jumped forward and pushed Horatio against the door.

Grunting, Horatio did his best to get away from him. "You already took my life, what else would you want?"

"This," he grabbed Horatio's arm and scratched him exactly where the small scar was.

"This belongs to me."

Horatio just hissed in pain and pushed him away with all his strength. "No way you're going to get it," he shouted at him and started his own attack. He'd rather die than give Gabriel the opportunity to live in the sun.

"What if Gabriel kills him?" Eric pointed out and stood up. "He needs our help."

"You're just going to distract him, Delko. Stay here," Speed argued back.

"No! I'm not going to wait here while he's risking his life."

"Eric please," Calleigh sighed. "Horatio knows what he's doing." Of course she wanted to help him, who didn't? But this wasn't a normal situation.

"Yes, he's going to die. He doesn't stand a chance against him. How could he?"

"I'm sure Horatio has a plan, he always does," Speed tried to reason him.

"I'm going to see what's going on," Eric replied stubbornly and walked away.

"This won't work," Speed said quietly.

The two vampires were circling each other again. "You got stronger," Gabriel said. "But you still have one great weakness."

"And that would be?" Horatio challenged and turned around when the door opened and he heard Eric's call.

"Horatio?"

"Definitely that," Gabriel lunged out and tackled Horatio down.

Horatio just groaned when his back hit the cold floor.

"Now I'm going to get what belongs to me," Gabriel growled and sat down on his victim.

"H!" Eric called out in horror and ran towards the fighting men.

"ERIC!" Horatio shouted. "Get the weapon, get the weapon," he struggled to free his arms in order to keep Gabriel away from his neck.

"Weapon…weapon..," Eric mumbled feverishly, but had no idea what Horatio was talking about.

"My jacket, the gun," Horatio shouted again.

Eric just stumbled towards the jacket and kneeled down next to it. When he felt something metal, he just pulled it out. "I got it, H! I got it!"

"Shoot the leg...the leg..," Horatio groaned when he felt Gabriel's teeth graze his skin. He had lived through this nightmare once; he didn't want to relive it again.

The leg? Why the leg? "But H you said.."

"THE LEG," Horatio screamed, when Gabriel sank his teeth into his neck.

Eric just worked on auto pilot when he aimed for Gabriel's leg and fired.

Immediately Gabriel let go of Horatio and hissed out in pain.

Horatio rammed his elbow into his face and rolled away. "The gun", he shouted at Eric when he hurried to his feet and held out his hand.

Feeling like in a bad movie, Eric hoped that all his baseball training in High School would be enough. "Here," he shouted and threw it over.

Gracefully, Horatio caught the item and fired two more bullets at Gabriel; one into the second leg, the other into his shoulder. Pressing his hand against his neck, he tried to calm down. This had been very close, too close for his liking actually. Knowing that Gabriel wasn't capable of another attack, he walked to his jacket.

"H..I..," Eric stuttered and tried to ignore the cries of pain from the other vampire. Whatever Horatio had done, it must hurt like hell.

"I told you to leave me alone," Horatio rebuked him.

"I know but I.."

"I don't want to hear any excuses coming from you," he hissed at his friend and kneeled down to get the other item, which Sophia had given him at her house.

Snapping his mouth shut, Eric just nodded. His eyes became wide when he realized what Horatio was going to do. "Horatio-"

Horatio's eyes became crystal clear again. "Leave," he growled lowly at him.

Knowing that he was playing with fire here, Eric did the smartest thing to do: he made a quick getaway.

"Do you really think that a gun shot can stop me?" Gabriel asked. "Didn't your wonderful mentor teach you that it won't stop a vampire?"

Smiling, Horatio approached him. "In a normal case, I'd agree with you Gabriel. But you see those are quite…special bullets. Special... like in…silver ones."

"I hate you Horatio Caine!" Gabriel spat at him. The silver in his body was burning and he needed to get it out immediately.

"I know." Showing Gabriel the wooden stake in his hand, he grinned devilishly at him. "Any last wishes my maker?" he taunted him. "No? Interesting, normally you're so full of words."

"You're going to hell for that!"

"I know I will, but not today my dear friend," Horatio said softly, before his eyes became hard again. "You took my life Gabriel, now I'm going to return the favour."

_tbc_


	18. Epilogue

**A/N: So to quote the great Michael Jackson, This is it. The final part of the story. Thank you to all my readers and especially to the ones that reviewed. It really means a lot to me. I'm happy that you all enjoyed the story and so I also hope that you like this ending. **

**Jess**

**Epilogue**

Amused, Horatio watched Calleigh eating the last bites of her meal. Sometimes he wondered how she could eat so much, but stay so slim, but then again, he kind of knew why; he was after all the man who had to jog with her almost every evening. "So did you enjoy your first Irish Stew?" he asked and casually leaned back in his chair.

"I loved it," she replied cheerfully and grinned at her boyfriend. "I'm actually surprised by that."

"And why is that?" he asked intrigued and took a sip of his beer.

"Because I actually thought that it was with mint sauce and I'm not exactly a friend of that, you know?" she shrugged.

Horatio just smiled. "Ah. Well, no, the original Irish Stew isn't with mint sauce," he shook his head. "I know that they always say that in movies, but it's wrong. There is a dish with meat and mint, but that's no Irish Stew."

"Well I'm happy that you convinced me to try it; too bad it's too warm in Miami for such a dish."

"True, but I cooked it, once or twice for Alexx and her family."

"You can cook it?" she asked surprised. She knew that Horatio wasn't completely helpless in the kitchen, even though he didn't have to cook for himself, but a Stew? Now that was interesting.

"Of course I can," he chuckled. "My mother and grandmother were pretty good cooks and since I was the only kid, they showed me the one or other thing in the kitchen. Stobhach gaelach, as we call it, was my mother's favourite dish. When it was the time of the year, we had it…almost every week."

Calleigh pulled a face. "Every week?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "Once Kathryn and I left Ireland, we didn't have Irish Stew for some years."

"I can completely understand that," she snickered as well. "So what else did your mother teach you?"

"My love for whiskey, ah no that was my father," he joked. "I don't know, nothing special I guess," he just shrugged. "Beef in Guinness? Our Irish version of Coq Au Vin, so to say."

Shaking her head at that, she just smiled. "I can really see that you're a true Irishman…whiskey, Guinness," she pulled his leg.

"Of course," he laughed. "That's tradition; we had long, cold winter and needed to stay warm and happy."

"You're a trip," she snorted and got up from her chair. "Excuse me for a minute?"

Getting up as well, he nodded. "Of course. Do you want something else? A dessert?"

"No thanks, I'm pretty full actually," she smiled and left their table.

"Okay, then," he said to himself and waved at the waitress.

"I hope you enjoyed your meal?" the young woman asked and started to clear up the dishes.

"Yes, thank you. "Foster's Irish Stew is always the best."

"So you're coming here often?" she asked, because she wasn't sure if she had seen him here before.

"Not as much as I want to, but I enjoyed it every time."

"Thank you, I'll tell the chef."

"Please," he smiled. "May I have the bill, please?"

"Of course, Sir."

Watching her go, he just smiled. It felt incredible good to be in Ireland again. A few months ago, his life had changed completely and now he was enjoying it to its fullest. The moment he had taken revenge on Gabriel, a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, a burden he hadn't even realised he had. In a way, he had made peace with his past and that made him able to live in the here and now and for the future. A future he was sharing with a wonderful woman, who was currently taking some time to come back again.

After he had left the warehouse, he had immediately made his way to the boys and Calleigh. She'd still been weak, but nothing life-threatening. The real wounds had been psychological ones actually. Gabriel had been a vampire after all, a vampire who'd hurt her and the fact that he, Horatio, was a vampire as well, hadn't been a perfect combination at first.

More than once she'd woken up in the middle of the night, distraught by nightmares and every time she had flinched at his touch, his heart had been broken into pieces. He had hated Gabriel at that very moment with a rage he'd never felt before, but the monster was dead for good. It had taken him a lot of patience and love to make her feel comfortable in his presence again and this vacation together was the wonderful outcome of his work.

Going to Ireland had actually been Calleigh's idea, but Horatio hadn't even hesitated for a moment. Talking about his family and Kathryn in particular had made him realise that he was missing his old home and having the opportunity to show it to Calleigh had been too good to ignore.

And here they were in a restaurant, which was actually older than himself and eating his favourite meal. Could life get any better than this?

When Calleigh walked back to their table, she couldn't help but let her eyes roam over the interior of the restaurant. It was old, no question about it, but also very warm and welcome. Horatio had told her that it hadn't changed at all over the last 200 years and so she had a small glimpse of what houses must have looked like in the old world. It wasn't fancy or glamorous, it was plain and simple and she liked it.

Passing the bar, she noticed that a woman was watching their table and Horatio in particular. Now this was interesting. She was almost used to women staring at her man, who was always so oblivious to that. She couldn't blame them of course, with his red hair, husky voice and handsome face it was almost impossible to ignore him. Maybe she was a bit biased in that, but she didn't care.

Seeing her wide grin, Horatio couldn't help but wonder what has gotten into her. "What happened?" he asked and was expecting the worse, whatever this 'worse' might be.

"Nothing," she chirped and sat down again.

Raising his brows at that, he shook his head at her. "Sure," he replied and handed the waitress his credit card.

"Really," she drawled when the woman had left again. "Okay, maybe…well…you're being watched.

"By whom?" he furrowed his brows.

"A woman at the bar," she replied and nudged his leg with her foot when he turned around to have a better look at the bar. "Don't be so obvious," she groaned at him.

"I'm not obvious," he exclaimed and rubbed his shin. "Are you wearing metal boots?"

Calleigh just rolled her eyes at him. "Next time I will," she threatened.

Poking out his tongue, he took another glance, a little less obvious this time. "Hmm."

"Do you know her?" Calleigh asked curiously.

Horatio turned around again. "It's been years that I was here for the last time," he pointed out. "But no, I've never seen her before. She reminds me of someone though; I just can't put my finger on it."

"Oh well, she's probably one of your fans."

"My fans?" he asked confused.

"Don't think about it, Handsome," Cal just smiled. "So what's next on the schedule?"

Still confused, he needed a moment to reply. "Well if you don't mind, the cemetery isn't far away and.."

Knowing what he wanted to say, Cal couldn't help but interrupt him. "Of course we can go there." Over the last few months, she had made her peace with his late wife. She knew that Horatio would always have a place in his heart for Kathryn and this was okay for her. In actual fact, she enjoyed it when he was talking about the old times.

"Wonderful, thank you," he smiled shyly and didn't have to say anything else, because the waitress was back again.

"I hope you're having a nice stay. Maybe we'll see you again in Foster's," she smiled at the couple.

"There's a good chance for that, thank you," Calleigh replied and together they left the restaurant. "So lead the way, Handsome."

"It's a good thing that things haven't changed a lot here," he reached for her hand. "So we won't get lost," he joked. Sometimes he wondered if his hometown had changed at all. It was still the small, friendly town he remembered.

"Well we're tourists, we have the right to get lost," Calleigh entwined their fingers.

"That's true," he laughed and started to walk. They had barely made it around the first corner, when they heard a female voice behind them.

"Ah excuse me, ma'am, sir?"

They both stopped and turned around in perfect unison. It was the lady from the restaurant who'd watched Horatio. "How can we help you?" Horatio asked.

"I know this sounds probably weird, maybe even crazy, " the young woman answered and looked at her feet.

Looking at each other, Horatio and Cal just shrugged. "Okay?"

"Well you see, I know this sounds hardly believable, but you," she was looking at Horatio, "you're looking just like my great granduncle. Or...maybe a few more grands actually," she said sheepishly.

Horatio didn't know what to say. This sounded really crazy on the one hand, but on the other, it was entirely possible. "I do?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I'm really sorry to interrupt you and watching you in the restaurant, but when I saw you I just had to think of him. Because, well yeah, you really look like him."

"What's your name?" Horatio asked intrigued.

"Lisa Swanson," she replied truthfully and Horatio felt his jaw drop.

"Lisa Swanson," he repeated quietly. That had been Kathryn sister's name. "Well nice to meet you Ms. Swanson. This is Calleigh Duquesne and my name is Horatio-"

"Caine?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," he chuckled.

"Then it's true? Did your ancestors go to the US?"

"Yeah, my namesake and his wife, Kathryn," Horatio replied even though it wasn't the ultimate truth. He couldn't tell her though that he was indeed the Horatio Caine who'd left Ireland almost 200 years ago.

"This is amazing," the girl clapped her hands. "Oh my god. Are you here on vacation?"

"Yes, we are," he smiled at Calleigh, who was rather amused by the situation.

"Such a coincidence. My side of the family never knew if Horatio and Kathryn had any children, but seeing you here answers the question," she grinned. "I can't wait to tell the others. Oh I know something better; you have to come over tonight."

Calleigh couldn't help but smile at the hyper girl in front of them. "Yeah, why not?" she said, which surprised Horatio.

"Are you sure?"

"Why not? I'm sure that you'd like to meet your family," she smiled at him. It was his family after all and she knew that family meant a lot to him.

"Oh yes you have to come, the others will never believe me," Lisa chimed in. "Pretty please?"

The way she was looking at him, reminded him of Kathryn. She always knew her way around him and what her pleading eyes would do to him. "I think…I think this could be interesting."

"Yes!" Lisa exclaimed. "We still live in the Swanson estate. I'm not sure if you've heard about it?"

"I have, don't worry about it. So much that I'd find it in complete darkness."

Calleigh just smiled inwardly at his comment.

"Wonderful, how about seven p.m.? We'll have a wonderful family meal, like in the old times. There's so much to discus."

"Oh yes, there is," Horatio nodded, a little overwhelmed.

"Then I'll leave you two alone now. If you can't find the estate, just get a cab, they'll know."

"Sure thing," Calleigh replied for her boyfriend. "See you later," she smiled and sighed when Lisa was out of ear shot. "Wow, this side of the family is quite hyper, huh?"

"She's like Kathryn's sister. Her brother and Kathryn weren't like that. But now I know why she reminded me of someone," he said wistfully.

"Hey," she rubbed his back. "Are you okay? Don't you want to meet them?"

"Oh, no, it's not like that. I really want to meet them. I've always wondered what happened to the rest of the family and this is a great way to find out."

"So why do I have the impression that you're still not happy?"

Horatio just shrugged. "For one thing, because I have to act like someone else in a way, but most of all, because I'm not sure if I want to recall all the memories once we enter the house."

Smiling at him, she kissed his cheek. "I think it'll be worth it, Horatio. Granted, it might be a sad feeling at first, but meeting all those people, your family, will make it worth. You'll remember the happy times you had there."

"Do you think so?"

"Oh absolutely," she nodded.

"Thank you," he wrapped his arms around her. "For being so open and supportive about this."

"I know how important family is to you, Horatio. And this part of the family is a direct link to Kathryn, and I know how important she is to you. Of course I'm open to this, I'm really looking forward meeting them and have a real Irish family dinner."

"Oh this will be quite an experience, believe me," he laughed. "Especially with this family."

"Can't wait then," she smirked. "And now stop thinking. We have a place to be and then we need to get ready for the evening," she took matters in her hands.

"You're right," he kissed her lightly. "I'm happy that you're here with me. Coming home was one of the best decisions ever."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Smiling at that, he entwined their hands again and continued his way to the cemetery. He would say hello to the old part of his family there and later that evening, he'd say hello to a very new part.

Getting his revenge all those months back had really changed his life and he was incredibly happy about it. Sometimes he still felt a bit bitter about it, because he'd wanted to take his revenge much earlier. But then again, he might have never met Calleigh then and this was something he didn't want to think about.

His revenge had been bittersweet, but he wouldn't want to have it any other way.

In the end he'd gotten his revenge and this was all that mattered; this and having found peace after so many years.

_**The End**_


End file.
